Elevator Theology

The elevators in this hotel are very strange. They look like normal elevators until you try to operate one. The first time I stepped toward the bank of elevators to go up to my room, and headed to an open car, an employee stopped me. She asked me what room I needed, and then she keyed it in on a panel on the wall -- where one would normally find the call buttons (up or down).

The panel repeats the floor you key in, and then tells you which elevator to ride -- Car B, for instance.

When Car B arrives, you step on. Inside the elevator there are no buttons at all. There is a strip of red, lit up numbers, on the "door frame." These numbers indicate where the elevator is going to stop.

No buttons. Step on the elevator and loose control. Change you mind and want to go to a different floor? Too bad. Your travel is out of your control.

Don't like the idea? Fine. Don't take the elevator, but if I made that choice, I would need to walk up more than 20 flights of stairs, and my room is only in the middle of the hotel. The only way to ride is to give up control.

Is life with God ever like that? Does life with God require that we give up control? If we want to travel where God takes us, isn't it necessary to release our control of the situation? Do we even have control in the first place? Could it be that all we need to give up is our illusion of control?

Image: Jackson Square