Of course, DETOUR signs also trigger resentment in me, because the detour usually takes longer than my regular route - and I always seem to be in a hurry. It's tough to face detours when we've already timed out our way to work or to a meeting or an appointment.
Detours in our lives also trigger fear and resentment. Suddenly we lose a job, or an important friendship, or there's a serious illness, or a beloved place or organization changes or shuts down. What new direction is our life headed in? Will we lose our way in this new territory? Why did this have to happen anyway because now all our plans have slowed to a near stand-still!
However there are some detours that pop up in our lives that we have a choice about. God stands off to the side carrying a big DETOUR sign, waiting to see if we'll stop our hurried journeys long enough to glance His way. If we have the courage, even the curiosity, to turn aside long enough to see what He's offering.
Moses, a Hebrew exile from Egypt, a shepherd, and married to a foreigner, has seen a lot of upheaval in his life. One day, he is out watching over the flock, when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the biggest DETOUR sign ever: a burning bush which is not being consumed. This lush, green bush is on fire, yet not a branch or leaf is blackening, shriveling in the heat, or going up in smoke.
Moses has a choice: does he detour, or not? He must have said to himself: "Haven't I already had enough detours in my life? First, I unexpectedly find out that I'm not an Egyptian Prince - I'm a Hebrew, like the Hebrew slaves. Secondly, I have to run from Egypt to escape capture and punishment for killing an Egyptian soldier who was mistreating one of those Hebrew slaves whom I now know are my people. Haven't I had enough excitement and trauma in my life?"
But Moses has shown his capacity for absorbing the unexpected punch, for facing the unexpected. And he has a strong sense of curiosity. He says to himself "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." He chooses to make the detour.
God waits until Moses chooses to turn aside, to detour in His direction. Now God knows that there can be a personal communication between them. So God calls to Moses from the burning bush: "Moses! Moses!"
This is the first important moment: what will Moses say?
Moses has the courage to respond "Here I am!"
And so begins the conversation that will make Moses take a complete detour in his life. The One Who calls to him from the burning bush reveals an amazing Identity: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." And Moses, overcome by awe, hides his face.
Moses knows now that his detour has cost him his life as he knows it. His life will never be the same again because he has detoured into the Presence of the Living God, with Whom Moses' ancestors and all the great Patriarchs live. The God of the Burning Bush, Who, like the resurrected Jesus, should be dead - gone up in smoke - but is the very Personification of Everlasting and Abundant Life.
God is terrifyingly direct. God asks Moses to free His people. Moses asks, reasonably, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring forth the sons of Israel?"
But God isn't going to give him any sense of security. He tells Moses that he'll receive a sign that he is the right one for the job - and that sign will only come in the future - once he's gotten everyone out of Egypt. James Alison says
"It's only at the end, when Moses has brought the people to the mountain for the covenant, that he will have the assurance that it really was YHWH who was working all this through him. Instead of an assurance that he can grasp, something from his past or his person, Moses is gong to have to settle for the assurance that he is being grasped and that he will come to be someone he can't yet imagine, someone received from a future that he doesn't yet possess." (from "Jesus the Forgiving Victim: Listening for the Unheard Voice.")
We aim for the future when he follow all those little DETOUR signs from street to street. Finally we heave a sigh of relief when the familiar intersection we've aimed for comes blessedly into view. Moses, aimed by God towards an unknown future, the biggest detour of his life, has to trust that God is his heavenly GPS, set to take him into a totally unfamiliar landscape. God is going to re-make him into someone he wouldn't recognize if he could see a DVD of his future life.
Our lives also contain those other DETOURS, the ones we can choose or ignore. How often, as we hurry down the Highway of our lives, is God waiting around the bend on the shoulder of the road, waving a DETOUR sign? Perhaps we prefer to keep our eyes on the road ahead, rushing towards our next appointment with Destiny, the one we've pre-arranged. Yet if, like Moses, we've already faced unexpected detours, traumas, challenges, we've become toughened up enough and we're curious enough to see what God has to offer this time. Perhaps we stop. Perhaps we turn to the side. Perhaps we look at God's shining and everlasting Countenance.
Because we've stopped, turned aside to see, God knows we're waiting to hear from Him.
He calls our name. Our name alone.
"Here I am," we say.
And so He tells us about this huge detour, this huge change, that He'll bring into our lives - if we are willing to travel an unfamiliar route.
Maybe it's a chance to go back to school.
Maybe it's a new job in a field we've had no experience in up till now.
Maybe it's a new love, a new marriage.
Maybe it's the chance to end an abusive relationship.
Maybe it's retirement, and a chance to explore new interests.
Maybe it's an unexpected pregnancy, a new life waiting to be born - or a child waiting to be adopted.
Maybe it's a new ministry, or responsibility we never would have chosen for ourselves.
Maybe it's a call to priesthood, diaconate, or religious life.
All you know is that this is a route that you've never been down before.
"How can I know for sure that this is right for me and I'm capable of doing this? Show me!" we say to God.
God shakes His head.
"You have to trust Me first. You won't know a thing about how this turns out till it's over with. But I can guarantee you that by then you won't recognize yourself. I'll have helped you become a new person who's accomplished amazing things."
"Come on!" you retort, shaking your head. "You mean You're going to do this through me? ME????"
"And with you and in you," God says. "Don't you remember My Name? I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. Unpredictable. Always running ahead of You. Not answerable to any human being because I am Other, I am beyond you all. Yet I live inside you as My dearest dwelling place. I love My Image in you. Either you trust me or I cannot do this, nor can you."
So you do the only thing you can do at this point. You hide your face in awe. You know that if you were to see a DVD of your future self at the end of this journey. You would be unrecognizable. That's frightening. That's alluring.
Will you accept this DETOUR, or not? God leaves the choice up to you.