A Change of Direction

Yesterday evening I was travelling in the car towards the south side of Glasgow (on legitimate and necessary work related matters – just so you know!).

As usual, I had put on the Satnav system as there are some alternative routes available and if one of these gets congested then the Satnav tells me and directs me to another route. Useful when time is a bit squeezed… as it was!

At one point the Satnav took me in a slightly different way (due to road works I think). I got a little confused by the Satnav instructions and the road layout and took a wrong turn. Very quickly I was alerted to this error and told to make a U-turn when safe to do so! I did so, and proceeded on my way without further incident and arrived in time… just!

Of course, if you end up going in the wrong direction you need to change direction and turn around and go in the correct way. It is obvious and common sense. If you find yourself going in the wrong direction and you decide to persevere in that way then not only is it utter madness, but you will get ever further away from your destination.

So, then, why do ‘U-turns’ get such a bad press? Why do politicians seek to avoid them and protest that they have not made one (even when they clearly have)? Why do newspaper headlines gloat about ‘U-turns’ when a government changes a decision?

Why do we as individuals so often persist in some bloody-minded manner in  pursuing the wrong road rather than ‘lose face’ (as it is seen, for some reason) and change direction, turn around and go in the correct way towards our destination?

John the Baptist called people to ‘repent’ which really just means to turn around; to turn from going the wrong way towards going the right way; a change of direction; a U-turn, if you like.

Imagine if Joseph had not had a change of mind and changed direction when he had ‘planned to dismiss [Mary] quietly’ when he discovered she was pregnant? (Matthew 1: 19)

What if Mary and Joseph had stuck to what we presume were their original plans of returning from Bethlehem to Nazareth and had not ‘changed direction’ and fled to Egypt because they had been warned about Herod’s intentions?

There is nothing in the slightest sensible or honourable in being determined to pursue the wrong direction! If we are going the wrong way then it is time to change direction. And if that involves a ‘U-turn’ then so be it. That is surely not a bad thing!