You Have Not Been This Way Before

On a recent trip, I had the good fortune to set up an appointment with a gentleman I had only previously interacted with by way of email. The gentleman kindly invited me to have lunch with him at an establishment I would properly describe as very ‘high end’ indeed. ???

To get there, I was required to navigate my way through a course that included three short walks, two train trips and one bus ride. For completeness, the weather was particularly hostile on said day.?????

Undeterred by the stacked up odds, I ventured into the cold streets and embarked upon my odyssey. I was acutely aware of the fact that I had not been this way before. However, I took comfort in the knowledge that as long as my phone battery (and the back up power bank) held ????, my data bundles persevered?? and my people skills did not glitch ??, I would be alright.

The ‘lunch date odyssey’ brought to recollection a Biblical account of Joshua and the Israelites as they embarked upon their Jordan river crossing into ‘the Promised Land’. Needless to surmise that there was as much anticipation as there would have been apprehension in the camp. A chequered report of the prospective Promised Land had earlier been delivered: giant warriors as well as giant fruits, which discouraged more than it encouraged. The people were however, instructed to follow the Ark-bearing Levites who walked close to a kilometer ahead and to hold that gap as they sojourned. The reason for this instruction was this “that you may know the way by which you must go: for you have not passed this way before” (per Joshua 3:4).??

Three salient gleanings from the above account:

Firstly, the value of well meaning forerunners. Those that have previously ventured ahead, whether on a similar or related journey, are invaluable in providing insights that could make the difference between success and failure. The blind spots of inexperience, the imperceptible false flats of arrogance that curve into headwinds of power clashes, the barely-there pot holes of prejudice that dent the wheels of justice and deflate the tyres of equity; all of these may be signalled and flagged by those that have gone ahead.?One disregards the opportunity to confer with one's forebears to one's own peril.?

Secondly, the limitation of foresight. The Israelites were to maintain a close to one kilometer gap between themselves and the Ark. They were to maintain a trusty trajectory with the Ark in view, not knowing what may lie ahead of the Ark. No matter how refined our instruments of prediction may be, we will only ever be able to see ‘so far’ ahead and no further. The reality that we cannot see around the corner and thus, cannot determine with pin point accuracy what would transpire even an hour from the present time, may cause some paralysis of effort and waning of resolve. However, this should neither discourage planning, nor neuter the spirit of adventure. The possibility of failure is as much a reality as is the possibility of success.?

Thirdly, the imperative to move forward. Joshua and his people were instructed thus, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it”. The only way to make any kind of progress is if we get up and move forward. If we do not step out, even into what may be unfamiliar, we will maintain familiar horizons and never experience the wonder of ‘what if’.

Rightly does Sir Francis Drake pray?

‘Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord,

to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love’

We have not been this way before, it is true. Yet, we will approach the days ahead grounded in the counsel of our forebears, with conscientious, well considered resolve and finally, resolute and decisive action!

The navigation to the lunch date was successful by the way ?? (the adventures on the way there are a tale for another day)! ??