The Parable of Maps

I've been taking a break from blogging for about seven months, but I think it may be time to get back. My thought was that I would select key lessons that I've read in various books, etc. and try to turn them into parables. You'll have to be the judges as to whether it works at all. My first attempt will be based on my reading this morning from Proverbs 20:5...

The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.

As I read this passage this morning, it struck me that the depths of the ocean remain more of a mystery to us today than even space. Imagine then how much more of mystery they were to the ancient Jews. This, then, is the mystery of our purpose in life... of the meaning of life itself. Through Solomon, God assures us that we can know these things, story but that we must earnestly seek them. So when I ran across the following vignette in Os Guinness' Long Journey Home, I knew I had the makings of a modern parable. He tells the story of E. F. Schumacher's visit to Russia during the cold war.

Despite having a map in his hand, which he followed painstakingly, Schumacher realized he was lost. What he saw on paper didn't fit what was right before his eyes -- several huge Russian Orthodox churches, unmistakable with their golden onion domes. They weren't on the map, yet he was certain what street he was on.

"Ah," said the Intourist guide, trying to be helpful. "That's simple. We don't show churches on our maps."

"It then occurred to me," Schumacher said "that this is not the first time I had been given a map which failed to show many things I could see right in front of my eyes. All through school and university I had been given maps of life and knowledge on which there was hardly a trace of [faith].

Then to top it all off, I read the following article in the LA Times... Science and religion: God didn't make man; man made gods

The Parable of the Maps

A man started out on a journey to find the meaning of life. He came upon a scholar who informed him that true meaning can be rationally derived through math and science, so the man set about to experimentally find meaning. As he was creating an algorithm to derive meaning, he sought to include faith in the equation, but the scholar quickly told him that since man made God, there was no room for God in the equation. The man went back to the drawing board, but couldn't find any combination of attributes that resulted in meaning. Frustrated, he threw down his books and sought further help. He came upon a white-haired gentleman who told him "The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out." Perplexed, yet intrigued, the man pondered how he might draw out the path, when a young child suggested that he draw a map. Lacking any other ideas, the man began to draw a map, but left God out. The child, knowing nothing of math or science immediately saw the problem and suggested that the man draw God into the picture. With all of the information clearly before him, the man could finally see the true path, for God fills in all of the gaps and bridges all of the spans.