Lost and Found
Almost fifty years later I still remember the
experience of most of my school holidays which were spent riding along side my
father in his truck. Dad had his own business and he delivered parcels and other
small items to various places around the city of Brisbane. I enjoyed the
mornings when we would go from place to place picking up the morning’s
deliveries. At each place there was a brief chat with the people there and a
quick look around the various places. We would repeat it all again each
afternoon.
The variety of goods was huge. It was a very diverse range of
goods that ended up in the back of the truck. There were parts for cars, trucks
and machinery. There were items made of various plastics, from kitchen sinks to
plastic wallets and folders. There would be framed pictures and empty frames and
various cartons of food products and other well wrapped items. The variety over
the years included popcorn, furniture, tobacco curing equipment, chainsaws,
petrol and diesel engines. When Perspex was popular in the late 1950s we had
every perspex item imaginable from sunvisors for cars to shelving and toilet
seats.
The places we went to were just as varied. We delivered to rail
stations and rail sheds, the airport and many truck depots and bus terminals.
Shops, factories and houses were also on the list. As we went from place to
place there were people and many other interesting things to be seen. I really
enjoyed learning about the city and its life.
One of the lessons I have
never forgotten was map reading. There must have been times when dad could tell
I was not too excited about what was happening and he could tell I was getting
bored. It was then I learnt something I have never forgotten. It could not have
been very long after I began to read that dad introduced me to the “Refidex”. I
soon learnt as every Brisbanite knows that a Refidex is the book of maps of the
city. It is the street directory. In other places in Australia it is the UBD or
Gregory’s or Melway but in Brisbane it is the Refidex. Even when UBD (Universal
Business Directory’s) bought out Refidex, they continued to put Refidex on the
front cover. Actually any street directory to a Brisbanite is a
“refidex”.
Dad showed me to read it in a practical way. He would tell me
the name of the next street we were going to and by using the index I would find
the page and cross reference and then locate the street we wanted. The ritual
was then that I would tell dad the name of the two streets before it on the same
side of the road. I, of course, would tell him whether it was on the right or
left side. Dad would then tell me to watch for the streets I had told him and
let him know when we were passing them and then to get ready to turn.
Map
reading has been a very useful skill. Since about 1966 all my work has involved
a lot of driving, not only in the city I grew up in but in many other cities and
towns. It enabled me to find my way quickly to strange places, as long as I had
the Refidex or other street directory in the car.
However, my map reading
skills may be becoming obsolete. About five years ago, I rode for the first time
in a car that had an electronic guidance system (GPS – Geographical Positioning
System). Many vehicles have them now. After the driver inputs the destination a
map shows on the screen and a vpoice tells street by street and turn by turn how
to get there. On one occasion, when the driver took a different route to the
instruction, he was told when he was able to do a U turn. When he ignored this
the voice then readjusted and began to give correct instructions from where the
car now was.
Even more recently, we were travelling south on a new
section of highway. The sound on the GPS was off but the screen was on. Someone
looked at the screen and said “what are we doing amongst the cows and the banana
trees?” We all looked at the screen and saw we were well off the road and in
driving through a road side farm. Obviously the map on the GPS had not been
updated and still showed the old highway which was some distance from where we
were shown to be travelling through a blank roadside area.
I recently
have seen advertisements that these fixed or hand held systems can be purchased
for under $100 Australian. (
http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/c/electronics/gps-units/)
Maybe the next Refidex I buy will be the last as I imagine these systems will
become standard in cars soon. Of course, GPS systems are available as a feature
of mobile/cell phones now.
Two years ago when we were travelling around
London, the driver had print outs of “how to get there” from his computer. It
was like the script for the voice on the GPS system. A few times we did not
understand exactly what the script was saying and either missed turns or took
the wrong one. I longed for a map which would not only show the route we
required but would put it into relationship with other roads and lanes in the
area.
If I think there has been change in my life time, there is a much
bigger change if I look back through the pages of the Bible. I see Abraham being
told by God where to go. Moses is told to lead God’s people from Egypt to the
Promised Land and God leads them with a cloud by day and a sky fire at night. To
others the place where God wanted them was much more apparent.
Much
later, David could reflect on God being his Shepherd. We can gather from the
Biblical story of David’s life that there was a little more to it than the
familiar:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to
lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He
restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
(Psalm 23 King James Version).
David was not always a saint. If God was
his Shepherd, then there was not only a need for the gentle comforting rod but I
am sure a touch up or two with the rod got the sheep David back on track. God
was not always a “sheep whisperer” with his “still small voice”.
I am
reminded too of the words of Jesus when he spoke to the Disciples about their
future of making more disciples for him “I'll be with you as you do this, day
after day after day, right up to the end of the age." (Matthew 28.20 The
Message)
[Listen: Male Voice:
http://www.salvoaudio.com/audio/music2/mus_3954.mp3
or
Songsters:
http://www.salvoaudio.com/audio/music/mus_395.mp3Or
Songsters:
(New Tune: By His Hand) :
http://www.salvoaudio.com/audio/music/mus_2360.mp3
]
He leadeth me! O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort
fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be,
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth
me.
Chorus
He leadeth me, he leadeth me!
By his own hand he leadeth
me;
His faithful follower I will be,
For by his hand he leadeth
me.
Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden's
bowers bloom,
By waters still, o'er troubled sea,
Still 'tis his hand that
leadeth me.
Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine,
Nor ever murmur or
repine,
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since 'tis my God that leadeth
me.
And when my task on earth is done,
When by thy grace the victory's
won,
E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan
leadeth me.
Authors: Joseph Henry Gilmore (1834-1918)
The Salvation Army
Song Book: Song Number:
725
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