Top Speed!

Top Speed!

Once you were like sheepwho wandered away.But now you have turned to your Shepherd,the Guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2:25

Do you ever wonder where we are headed as a society? I think about that a lot, because it seems to me that we are galloping at breakneck speed but have no idea where we’re going. In the touching song “People Need the Lord” recorded by Steve Green, the singer weeps for the people he passes on the street every day—“Empty people filled with care, headed who knows where?” And I often feel that way. Do you?

It reminds me of the story of nineteenth-century biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, who once arrived late in a town where he was to deliver an important lecture. Hailing a cab, he jumped in and shouted to the driver, “Top speed, my man! Top speed!”

Responding quickly to Huxley’s command, the cabbie whipped his horse into action, and the vehicle went bumping along the streets at a wild clip. The lack of dignity and organization in the proceedings then dawned upon Huxley, and above the clatter of the wheels he shouted again to the driver, “Here, here, good man, do you know where I want to go?”

“No, Your Honor,” called the cabbie, cracking his whip all the while, “but I’m driving as fast as I can!”

We are rushing headlong toward tomorrow, not knowing what will be there when we arrive. Often not even really caring. We just want to be somewhere else—anywhere but where we are—because life is hard. We don’t want to face the here and now, thinking, Tomorrow will be better, wait and see. So we are running . . . and running . . . to who knows where?

The good news is that we can stop running. Our Shepherd says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Come.

Gentle Shepherd, open your arms to me so I can find rest for my tired soul. I need you, Lord. I need you. Amen.