November 1, 2010 – later.
On the way to the hotel from the airport, we passed lots of mosques. You know the ones, with the tall spires and the loudspeakers. These also have not-so-tastefully-placed lights on the towers or spires. Not spotlights lighting them up and not strings of lights outlining them, but rather what looks more like neon. Like something on an American Indian casino.
On closer inspection, they aren’t neon but fluorescent lights. You know, the simple tube ones. Like the yellow ones we used to see growing up under the eaves at the drive-ins (not the movies, but the places with the hamburgers, onion rings and awesome shakes). Only these lights aren’t yellow. Some are simply white. Others are green. Very odd.
I haven’t heard the prayers over the loudspeakers yet. I think they were at sundown. We were stuck in traffic or perhaps queuing up in the lobby of the hotel awaiting our room keys. If they were broadcast, I missed them. I’m glad God never gets stuck in traffic or misses ours.
Wait . . . I can hear a prayer now. And the horn blowing of frustrated drivers. And the incessant barking of an irritated dog. Or, at least I assume that this is a prayer. It certainly has a prayerful tone. Well, not really, more like a mournful tone. Granted, I have no idea what he is saying, but the tone. . . It doesn’t sound very joyful. What part of the Lord’s Prayer would sound like that? The forgiveness part I suppose. I wonder if they ever pray a prayer of praise or thanksgiving over the loudspeakers.
Speaking of prayer, there is an arrow on the ceiling in a corner of our room. We’ve concluded that it points toward Mecca. Hmmmm. Imagine that!
Imagine what we as Christians could do with something like that. We could all use some prayer help and direction sometimes. What if we put arrows on our walls pointing up? Or maybe hung mobiles made up of arrows pointing up? How about an arrow hanging from our rear view mirrors? Or, we could create one of those trendy oval stickers for our rear windows, with an arrow pointing up instead of letters which stand for some vacation spot or band or store or that people can’t figure out.
Or, are our arrows more like the spinner in the Twister game? We aimlessly and desperately spin it hoping for some direction, some purpose, something that energizes and motivates us. We invest our time and energies in whatever our arrow may land on – whatever we may have lined the spinner card with – career, money, power, position, appearance, clothes, shopping, stuff, addictions.
My spinner card is more like a marquee, it changes from day to day, week to week, season to season. Which way is your arrow pointing? What have you lined your card with?
I know what you're thinking....."there's a sermon somewhere in that" :)
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