Striking Gold

Whenever I spend a few days at my old home in Miami, I inevitably wake up early one morning and go out to get the paper. By going out, I mean walking a mile to the nearest 7-Eleven. Of course, I could drive there in a few minutes, but the journey holds many memories for me; so I walk.

I go across my street and gaze at the home where one of my friends once lived. He is gone now, along with the mighty trees that once graced the corner we shared.

I cross over a canal by way of a bridge that people loved to drive over at full speed. This was before they put in a traffic circle at its base. It’s a little safer now.

I pass the boyhood home of one of my elementary school friends who also was named Joseph. He had one of those 1980’s light sabers that was just a hollow tube that made a “wooong-woong” sound without the need for batteries or fancy electronics…*sigh*

Eventually I come up to where 112th Avenue intersects Miller Road and I head left towards the rising sun. Traffic is in full force by now, and I watch the multitudes dodge and weave their way towards work.

I pass by where I once found a fifty-dollar bill on the sidewalk during my college years. I used it to keep a check from bouncing.

I walk by the Miller Dental Group, my former dentist’s office. I always wondered who the architect was that designed that building. The inside reminded me of a contemporary log cabin with paneled vaulted ceilings that soared. It was the only dental office that I actually looked forward to going to.

I glance over where I got my hair cut by a guy named Jose, and a little cafeteria that serves Cuban Coffee and other assorted delicacies.

I pass by our local Farm Stores (imagine a drive-thru market). Their chocolate chip ice cream is hands down the best I’ve ever tasted. Not even Ben and Jerry’s could compare.

I cross by the fish market and arrive at the 7-Eleven.

Once I arrive, I buy the Miami Herald and turn around to head back home, either pinning the paper under my arm, or loosely swinging the rolled copy in hand. This IS South Florida, so if it was under my arm, it would inevitable get damp with perspiration.

I know I’m home when I’ve got a fresh copy of the Herald in my hands.

Way back when, I would get the paper for several reasons. I liked keeping up with the Miami Dolphins (this was before the Internet) and loved the comics. However, once a year, I’d read my horoscope.

I remember the yearly ritual well. I’d get the paper and find a spot I where I could read in peace and quiet. I would search for the horoscopes in section “B”. Then, I’d looked for the familiar phrase, “If today is your birthday, you are…”

I wanted to be affirmed. I wanted to know who I was. I never thought to look within, or ask without. The newspaper would tell me, or so I would think.

I got the usual “You are creative, charming, and attractive to members of the opposite sex… “ I’d soak this in, then carefully read ahead to see if THIS was the year that I’d find a girlfriend, acquire wealth, or achieve success. I shake my head now thinking of all those birthdays spent searching for myself in the back pages of a sweat-stained newspaper.

If only they could have printed a mirror instead. If only they would print, “Stop looking here and start living!” If only they would say that if I sought after God, He would reveal who I was. He would open my eyes (albeit in His time) to whom He was creating me to be.

Striking gold means discovering God and finding ourselves in the process.

As you look back on your journey, what moments serve as mileposts for your life? How has your life changed? How have you affected others? Where has God been through all of this?

What direction are you walking? Where are your answers coming from?

Joe

Luke 9:51
“As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

Psalm 139
O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. O LORD, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

NLTse