The Art of Zen Navigation

The hero of ‘Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul’ (the book by Douglas Adams),  Dirk Gently espouses the practice of Zen navigation when trying to find his way to a particular location. According to Gently this practice requires that if you become lost or unsure of your way you should follow someone that looks like they know where they are going and follow them. You may not get to your original destination, but you may discover some interesting things along the journey.

I have used this method when trying to navigate labyrinthine road networks or find a way home after a popular event, sometime successfully, and sometimes not. The consequences of those actions may have resulted in some time loss or disappointment but rarely more than that. However the same technique when applied to navigating through the more complex issues of life can have more significant consequences.

Yet, it seems that for many of us we are quite content to do that. In our search for meaning and truth we will often attach ourselves to some prominent and perhaps well-meaning individual who seem to have the answers and follow them. This is no more obvious than in the pursuit of religious truth and knowledge.

The recent panoply of celebrity religious leaders who have fallen into difficulty should serve as a precautionary notice, but if we know anything from history, we will probably take little notice. In recent times prominent leaders have fallen over for reasons ranging from tax fraud, misappropriation of funds, inappropriate contact with minors, verbal and emotional abuse of those under their care and questionable doctrine to name a few. What we can learn is that to blindly follow any religious leader (even those who profess the same faith that we do) is fraught with danger. All men and women are prone to disappoint and none can claim infallibility. Sadly, though, it seems that we would much rather take the road followed by many than make sure that it is the right road.

Following a leader who is convinced they know where they are going may be interesting, even exciting but it may also lead us to the wrong destination. History is littered with examples of sincere people who have blindly followed populist leaders in every arena of life, only to have their dreams and sometimes their lives destroyed.

Jesus offered an antidote to this malaise. He confidently declared that he was the way and the truth, and if you wanted to find your way to your father in heaven, your only option was to follow him. To aid us in this task he provided us with a road map for life that we call the bible. But just like in more recent times, not all of us are that good at reading maps so he also provided a navigational aid, which he called the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit was sent to those that received him on the day of Pentecost and for the years after that those new believers met together to discuss the journey ahead and to agree on the best way to take, with the benefit of this Spirit of Truth.

In more customary language we understand this to mean that a relationship with Jesus himself is the only way to discover truth and it as those who share this relationship meet together that the Holy Spirit discloses truth to them. Each of us has the privilege and responsibility to discover the pathway though the journey of life before us. We will not find it by simply following some enthusiastic, gifted and prominent leader but though a relationship with the author of life and in community with those that we share the road with. Christians are a privileged people, they have been told the way, in the bible, received the gift of the Holy Spirit and communion of others who share the same faith. These things working together will provide all the guidance we need to chart our way through the uncertain journey that lies before us.