There’s an old joke about a tourist from the city who gets lost in the countryside. After wandering around for a while, the tourist approaches a local farmer to ask how to get back home. The farmer pauses, looks up and down the road, thinks some more, then says: “Well, I wouldn’t start from here.”
We may laugh at the quandary of the poor tourist. But the farmer’s inability to describe the way is understandable. It’s not a well-worn path, and any directions would be far from straightforward. The many little roads wouldn’t have the usual signs.
I’m guessing that many of us have felt like the tourist at times—and it may not have been amusing. Maybe we have been struggling—feeling sick, lonely, or very far afield from the love of God—and have had trouble finding an answer showing us how to get “home.” Maybe we have turned to a religious creed, hoping that would give us straightforward directions. But what if creeds don’t do the job? What if a more radical solution is needed?
