SAILING FROM POINT 'A' TO POINT 'B'
How do you get from point 'A' to point 'B'? Everyone knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that doesn't mean a straight line is the fastest way! After all, when was the last time you got anywhere "as the crow flies?" Instead, we do what we have to do to get to where we want to get. Imagine you are an able bodied sailor in the small sailboat of your dreams. If you aim the bow of your boat at your destination, it does not mean you are going to get there. Steering is useless without wind. You could wait a lifetime for the wind to get behind you and blow you where you want to go. If the wind is not behind you, tack, or "zigzag", to your destination.
Tacking utilizes the wind available to get you where you want to go. You put up your sail, and sure, it might take you to point 'C' instead of 'B', but from point 'C' you can go to point 'D', and from point 'D' you can get to your goal, point 'B'. In this way you arrive to point 'B' faster than if you wait for the wind to get behind you. You must use the wind available to you anyway you can. It is the wind of God which blows; it is you who steers yourself upon the ocean of possibility. Tacking with the wind is superior to attacking the wind.
There is another way to get to point 'B'. After all, who said you have to use your own sailboat? You are an able bodied sailor, aren't you? Is your ego so big you can't get on board someone else's boat? Why not get on a ship that's already going from point 'A' to point 'B'? You might not be the captain, but you will get there quicker and it may be a safer journey. Too many people think that their own little boat is the only boat going where they want to go. If there is no ship going to point 'B', don't worry. Get on a boat going to point 'C' or 'D'. From there you can get on another boat headed to point 'B'. Either way is easier than waiting for your own ship to come in. Remember the dolphins? Even if they ride the bow of a sailboat which is not going exactly where they want to go, it may end up a shorter and easier journey than swimming where they want to go directly.
If you are going to join someone's crew, pick the ship carefully. Be careful not to get on a boat whose captain is feeble and whose boat is taking on water. If you become aware that the ship you are on is sinking, keep a sharp eye open for other boats you can jump onto. Just because the captain is going down with his or her ship doesn't mean you have to! Climb into a lifeboat if you must, you just might be rescued.
You may find the journey to points 'C' and 'D' to be quite enjoyable. Going out of your way is The Way.
Still determined to go straight to point 'B'? Good luck. It's possible that the wind may never get behind you. Without the wind of God behind you, you are truly on your own.
Why do you want to go to point 'B' anyway? Have you ever been there? The will to go to point 'B' is based on speculations, expectations, and desire. If you are longing for point 'B' and yet you are at point 'A', you are suffering. Why can't you be happy wherever you are? Why can't you live in the "now"? How can you live longing for a future that might not be? Wouldn't it be unfortunate if you spent a lifetime in agony getting to point 'B' only to find it barren or disappointing?
The enlightened do not spend their time fighting the wind of God. The enlightened go wherever the wind of God takes them. To the enlightened, point 'A' is point 'B'. Certainly, you don't have to go anywhere to find God. Add the "t" of "truth" to "here" and you get "there". Let God be your captain and enjoy the ride no matter where the wind takes you. Those who want to get to point 'B' and trust God will get to point 'B' if that's God's plan. If you just put up your sail you are going to go somewhere, so no matter what you do, you aren't staying at point 'A'. The wind may never get behind you, but you can always go with the wind.
Also, while you may want to go it alone, there exists a lifeboat that always sails with the wind and its captain is Jesus Christ welcoming you aboard and saying, "I am the wind, follow me."
