When You Know It’s Time to Turn Around

The sign flashed “Road closed 6 miles ahead.”

Traveling down an Interstate at 75mph, my first thought was, What’s that mean?

In this case, the southbound Interstate 25 between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico had traffic backed to a standstill as far as my eyes could see. Instead of stopping in the line of vehicles miles long, a line that was not moving, we bailed. Took the last exit available or my husband and I would have been sitting there, wondering, stuck for 2 hours or more.

Thank you, Google Maps.

Wending our way on the Old Santa Fe Trail, we wound up ahead of the miles-long backup and yet we had to turn around and head north anyway. At that point, our dog urged us to turn around.

A 3-hour tour.

That’s how long it took us to get back where we began. Instead of driving home to Lubbock yesterday, we returned to the cabin where we had packed to leave that morning.

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It’s not what happens. It’s what happens next.

This unforeseeable turnaround reminded me of the time my husband and I had traveled west on Interstate 40 in the middle of the summer. At Winslow, Arizona all traffic was forced to exit.

Again, navigating surface streets, I thought it would be possible to get beyond the roadblock and continue on our way.

Instead, a sandstorm had shut down both sides of I-40 between Winslow and Flagstaff, 2:30 in the afternoon––a major east-west thoroughfare closed until early the next morning. My husband snagged the last available room at La Posada, a historic hotel built during the era of transcontinental train travel.

We had to turn around and this led to a great experience. Discovering this jewel in the desert opened a portal to the past.

Originally a Harvey House, this iconic hotel housed celebrity guests during its 1930s heyday until it closed in 1957. Completely renovated by new owners Allan and Tina Mion (both artists whose work is displayed throughout the hotel), La Posada reopened in 1997.

Every room at La Posada is named for someone famous who had stayed there.

A picture of a celebrity guest is displayed outside each room. Our assigned room was the Jane Russell room. A quote by Bob Hope above her picture referred to Jane as “the two and only,” a longstanding joke related to Jane’s first movie role in the film The Outlaw, made by Howard Hughes. [In case you’re interested, links to bios on IMDb, which has no ads]

In case you don’t know any of those names . . .

Bob Hope holds two entries in The Guinness Book of World Records. One is for having the distinction of being the entertainer with the longest running contract with a single network–spanning 61 years. The second is for being the “most honored entertainer,” with over 1500 awards.

IMDb

Incidentally, Jane Russell’s niece Jay was a friend and classmate of mine when I lived in California.

Other renowned guests at La Posada were Anne and Charles Lindbergh. Besides being the first aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris, Charles Lindbergh mapped the flights and determined where airports were located across the U.S.

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Getting Back to Where I Once Belonged

Because I was born in Prescott, Arizona, each time I visit the Grand Canyon State, this natural wonder feels like a tractor beam, calling me home.

Beside the Eagles “standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona,” last summer on our way home from vacation at the North Rim, my husband and I stayed at La Posada again. This time we brought friends.

Did I mention the 5-star restaurant, “The Turquoise Room”?

Sometimes, turning around is the best thing that could possibly happen!

“Turn! Turn! Turn!”

Big doors turn on little hinges.

Which made me think of the song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” as sung by the Byrds (#1 in 1965). Written by Pete Seeger who took words from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. Seeger added the chorus and the words, “I swear it’s not too late.”

2020! Has there ever been a year with so many turns?

Unimaginable turns of events keep occurring.

“To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven . . .”

A season of current worldwide upheavals?

A purpose under heaven for all that has transpired just since 2020 began?

A biblical perspective:

King Solomon of Israel, cir. 970–931 B.C., identifies himself as the writer of Ecclesiastes (1:1). Nearing the end of his life, Solomon examined the meaning of life itself, often repeating the phrase “meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

The book opens with the words, “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (1:2, NIV, 1984). Other translations use the term “vanity.”

vanity––something that is vain, empty, or valueless

meaningless––lacking any significance; empty; inane; pointless

Miriam-Webster

Fatalistic, almost frighteningly pessimistic in places, waves of cynicism flow across the pages Ecclesiastes until the last chapter where Solomon concludes his argument with “Remember your Creator” before the days of trouble come (Ecclesiastes 12).

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Be Prepared to Stop and Turn Around

The wisdom of Solomon distilled some of the hardest questions life throws at human beings. Basically, Solomon asks, “What’s the point?”

Whether you and I achieve life goals or feel like failures, the best anyone can expect, according to the Teacher, is to accept their lot in life (Ch. 4).

Solomon in his wisdom places contentment at the pinnacle of life purpose.

Chasing after the wind––wisdom, pleasures, toil, advancement––proves meaningless.

Amidst turmoil and uncertainty, disappointments and anxiety, people still have the freedom and power to turn to around. To make different choices. To ethically evaluate and prioritize what matters.

I swear it’s not too late.

Solomon had accumulated and enjoyed everything life could offer (pleasures, riches, power). He recorded words to describe the entire span of life––from birth to death, from poverty to riches, from riches to poverty––discovering If you miss seeing God “under the sun,” then you will miss seeing and understanding anything that matters.

Countless lives of men and women throughout history illustrate his point.

In a documentary about MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) titled When the Lion Roared, the head of MGM during its golden years, Louis B. Mayer, who had reigned over a galaxy of Hollywood stars, said on his deathbed, “Nothing matters. Nothing matters.”

At one point in his life, Louis B. was the highest paid man in America. Still, at the moment when he faced stepping into eternity, he could count nothing in his life that had mattered.

He forgot he could turn around. He believed he could keep going.

The word repent means to turn around.

Faith Often Takes a Different Turn

It takes faith to believe that God has ordered all things according to his purposes. Even road blocks.

Recognizing those moments when I have had a choice to turn around or keep going my own way has made all the difference. Sometimes, a big difference and other times, a small course correction has led to something good that otherwise I would have missed.

For the next few posts, I will comment on the book of Ecclesiastes.