Been Down the Road

My father grew up on a farm in Southeast Ohio. You've heard me talk about the Bearwallow Church of Christ and my found memories there. It's where my grandfather went to church. I grew up hearing my dad talk of communities like Hemlock Grove, Darwin, and Floral. I've been through all these places and they don't exist! For instance, Floral was a store and a house. The house burned down when I was a kid and the store fell in. If you didn't know there was at one time a building there, you wouldn't know it today. It's the same with the other places. I really don't think there was much there when Dad was growing up either. The closest town of any size is Tupper's Plains which is nine miles away from the old home place. (With a name like Tupper's Plains, you know it still can't be of any size. At least you could tell people lived there and there was commerce going on.) Dad went to Olive Orange High School in Tupper's Plains. By the time I was going through, the building was an elementary school.
But Dad drove those nine miles from the farm every day. I can tell you that Highway 681 isn't a super highway. When I drove it as a sixteen year old, it was a windy, paved, two-lane road. As a kid going to my grandparents house, it was often covered with wet, black tar. When Dad drove it as a teenager, it was dirt, mud, and gravel. But he remembered every inch of that road. Every nook, every turn, every bump. I was in awe when I asked him to describe the drive. He would say something like, "you go up a slight incline and then the road would make a sharp left until it crossed the creek, then it would go down a little hollow and around a slight turn to the right..." You get the picture.
I was thinking about this when I read in Exodus how Jethro came to Moses and gave him advice. He told him how to judge Israel. He could have listened to others, but he listened to a veteran, one who knew, one who had been down the road before. I thought of Dad. Who better to get advice about being down the road before than one who had traveled it many times.
We're so arrogant. Why can't we just admit that we need help. And who better to go to? Those who have been down there before. Let's listen to those who have a few years on them. Those who have been down there and returned safely. "A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke." (Proverbs 13:1). Let's treasure the advice of elders. Let's not become mockers. Have a great day. JW