You Have Yosemite

Once when Jack and I were visiting with friends in Merida, on the Yucatan Peninsula,, we hired an Uber driver to take us to the zoo and later to return us to our friends’ haciendita. The driver spoke fluent English, and said that he had been caught in the U.S. For illegal entry and deported to his home in Merida. He wanted nothing more than to return to the U.S., but knew that it wasn’t safe for him. I asked him, “ Why do you want to be there so much? This is a beautiful city; the whole countryside is lovely, and you are apparently a successful Uber driver. What would the U.S. Have to offer?” “Yes,” he answered, but you have Yosemite!” I couldn’t answer , because I have lived my whole life in the U.S., and never visited Yosemite National Park in California; but I was puzzled because the driver insisted that Yosemite made the difference between Mexico and the U.S. , and the U.S. won, in his mind. I admit that it planted a desire in my mind to visit Yosemite, but I have yet to carry out the thought.

“Yosemite isn’t like any other place,” he said. It’s more than beautiful. There is no other place on earth like it. Why do you come to Mexico when you have Yosemite?” I had no answer. We had just toured a very lovely zoo in Merida, with natural habitats, a small lake, a flock of beautiful flamingos, and trees, shrubs, flowers, and benches situated to catch beautiful views. I had heard that Yosemite was a particularly spiritual place for some people, and perhaps it was for this man; I was embarrassed to admit that I had never been there. I had no answer for why I was in Mexico, when I could have been in Yosemite.

After the fire came a still small voice . When Elijah heard it. . . he went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:13) Elijah was trying either to escape death at the hands of Queen Jezebel, who had vowed to have him killed, or die peacefully away from her. The voice of God told him to return, as God had more work for him to do.

I was in Mexico at the invitation of some dear friends and I felt grateful for the visit, but the Uber driver’s question stayed with me and I thought that God has a plan for each of us and sometimes we need to hear the perspective of one who is in vastly different circumstances from ours. Merida is indeed a lovely city, but I didn’t let it give me a wanderlust. After all, I have Yosemite.

Love in Him,

Prue