Making Haste Without Having a Direction

Published May 28, 1987. Everyone is in such a hurry. Susan and I are no exception. It seems that sometimes we just wave to each other as we pass in the hallway.

Marriage and rearing children demand enough of our time and attention. But there are also occupational demands in addition to involvement in community and church activities. Add in a little time for personal pursuits, hobbies, or recreation, and life becomes quite hectic.

Not long ago I was in Sacramento, California to give a speech about marriage to an LDS audience. It was late afternoon when I arrived, so I had a little time to relax. I had a map of the city with directions to the chapel where I was supposed to speak. It was some distance away, but the route looked quite simple. Just follow the lines marked on the map and arrive by 7 p.m.

There was just one catch. I wasn’t familiar with rush-hour traffic in California. I left the motel an hour early, but to my dismay I was soon tangled in the late-hour traffic on a freeway leaving Sacramento. The longer the delays, the greater the frustration. Time was passing by. And I had to be at the meeting by 7 p.m. But if the traffic let up and I found the correct exits, I could make it in time.

The traffic eased some, and I spotted an exit ahead. “That must be it,” I said to myself. “The crisis is over.”

I turned off the exit and found myself on another large freeway. For some unknown reason there was little traffic, so I stepped on the gas. It is difficult to describe the sensation that comes with speeding down a California freeway when there is little traffic. You have a sense of power, purpose, direction and control.

But something seemed wrong. The longer and faster I drove in my rental car, the more uneasy I became. I was traveling with great speed but seemed to be moving away from the community I thought I was approaching. Then it dawned on me. I was on the wrong road. I had taken the wrong exit.

And I was rapidly going in the wrong direction. It was then I realized what has become to me a crucial lesson of life:

“Haste, without direction, is of little value!”

I finally found another exit, got off the freeway, and after some consultation with an informed teenager at a 7-Eleven Store, I finally got on the right road. I slowed down a bit this time. I wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction. Speed now seemed less important. I arrived 10 minutes late for the prayer meeting. But so was the high councilman I was supposed to meet. So, all in all, things worked out.

I asked them a question in my speech that night, and now I will ask it to you. Where are you going in life? What is your ultimate destination? And wherever you are going, do you want to take your spouse and children with you?

As you speed down the freeway of life at your own frantic pace, remember what I learned in Sacramento,  Haste, without direction, is of little value. Rather than check your speedometer, look at the sign posts. You may be in a hurry to get somewhere you don’t want to be.