Columbus

Da jeg ankom til min bibelskole i Stuttgart i går, følte jeg mig lidt som Columbus, da han så Amerika for første gang. Lad mig forklare…

Jeg havde et par problemer på vejen. Lad mig forklare et af dem: Min GPS bestemte sig for at gå i baglås. Den nægtede simpelthen at vise mig vejen til Stuttgart. Den ville gerne vise vej til den lokale svømmehal og til min far i Fredensborg, men Stuttgart – nej! Jeg overvejede, om GPS’en i virkeligheden gav udtryk for min underbevidsthed: Måske ønskede jeg ikke at tage til Stuttgart – måske ville jeg hellere i svømmehalen eller besøge min far. Men nej – Stuttgart var, hvor jeg allerhelst ville være lige nu i hele verden (bortset fra en tropeø) (sorry far, men vi ses jo om to uger…)

Nå, så måtte jeg jo bede. Det virkede ikke. Lidt mere bøn. Det virkede heller ikke. Trykke på reset-knappen – ingen virkning. Til sidst var jeg desperat: Jeg bad en ekstra stærk bøn og trykkede ekstra hårdt på reset-knappen og bing – så begyndte GPS’en at samarbejde.

Mens jeg kørte af sted overvejede jeg, om det var den ekstra stærke bøn eller reset-knappen, der havde været mest effektivt, men jeg fandt ikke et svar, førend GPS’en pludselig gik i baglås igen tæt på Stuttgart.

Og så startede jeg forfra: Bøn – ingen virkning, endnu mere bøn – heller ingen synlig virkning, reset-knappen – uden effekt, stærk bøn – nix. Og til slut: total desperat stærk bøn kombineret med ekstra stærkt tryk på reset-knappen og bimmelim: alt igen i skønneste orden.

Da jeg kørte videre konkluderede jeg, at det måtte være kombinationen af det overnaturlige og naturlige, som i så mange andre tilfælde, gjorde udslaget!

Og så ankom jeg efter mit livs længste køretur bag rattet, lavede en perfekt parallelparkering (min første i mange, mange år), og følte mig ganske som Columbus. Jeg havde overvundet og overlevet de syv have - eller ihvertfald den tyske autobahn til Stuttgart.

After arriving at the Bible school in Stuttgart, Germany yesterday I felt a bit like Columbus when he saw America. Let me explain…

I had a few problems on my way to Stuttgart. Here is one of them: My GPS decided not to cooperate. It would just not find the way to the Bible school. I tried to check other addresses and that worked perfectly – it could tell me how to get to the local pool or to how to visit my dad in Denmark. So I started to wonder if I unconsciously not wanted to go to Germany but after searching my soul I realised that actually Stuttgart was the place I wanted to be the most in the whole wide world right now (except for a tropical island, off course) (sorry, dad, but we’ll meet in two weeks).

OK, time to pray, I though, but it did not work. Some more prayer did not work either. I pressed the reset-button but it had no effect either. Now I was desperate: I said an extra strong prayer and pressed extra hard on the reset-button and suddenly everything worked.

While driving through Germany I was wondering if it was the extra strong prayer or the reset-button who had done the trick. I did not reach a conclusion until I was close to Stuttgart and the GPS decided to stop showing the way to the Bible school once again.

So once more: Prayer – no effect, even more prayer – no visible effect. Reset button – no effect. Extra strong prayer – no result. And then in a desperate move: An extra strong prayer and a even harder push on the reset button – and then everything worked.

As I drove on I concluded that in this as in so many other situations God chooses to combine the supernatural with the natural to get the best effect.

And as I arrived at the Bible school after the longest distance I have ever been driving by myself I made a perfect parallel-parking (the first in many years) and felt just like Columbus. I had survived the big ocean or at least the German high-way.