BACK COMPASS 4'?m2f Meditation, confession, purpose, quiet time (both characters wear hiking clothes and backpacks, carry compasses) AMY -- (enters, begins crossing) LIZ -- (follows) Do you think we'll be able to make it there before nightfall? AMY -- Piece of cake. (looks at compass, stops) LIZ -- (passes Amy) Come on. What are you waiting for? East is this way. (points to far exit) AMY -- Uh huh. (turns, looks back, sights through compass) LIZ -- (stops, turns) Why are you looking back? Did you drop something? AMY -- No. We're on the high ground. It's time to make a course correction. LIZ -- We don't need to make a course correction. We've been heading east all day. AMY -- (sights compass repeatedly toward left and right exits as the conversation progresses) Are you sure? LIZ -- (holds out compass) Every time I've looked at my compass, we've been heading east. AMY -- Exactly east? LIZ -- Well pretty much. AMY -- Even if we're only two or three degrees off, we could miss our destination by miles. LIZ -- Miles? AMY -- Miles. So, do you think it's worth pausing for a few minutes to save a few miles? LIZ -- My feet tell me yes. But why are you looking back? Our destination is this way. (points to far exit) AMY -- (counts on fingers) We don't have a map. So, landmarks won't help us. The only way we have to make course corrections is to look back and see where we wandered off course. (points) Just as I thought. LIZ -- What's the matter? AMY -- Well according to my rough calculation, if we head east and don't make any further mistakes, we'll end up about two miles south of our destination. LIZ -- No kidding. AMY -- No kidding. LIZ -- And you calculated that by looking BACK? AMY -- That's right. (resumes hiking) Now do you think it was worth pausing and looking back? LIZ -- (tilts head, daydreams) AMY -- (stops, turns) You coming? LIZ -- Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, sure. (approaches deep in thought) AMY -- What's the matter? Do you doubt my calculation? LIZ -- Uh, no. You just got me thinking. AMY -- About what? LIZ -- Well, the pastor keeps talking about the need Christians have for a daily quiet time and a monthly get-away for prayer and meditation. I never really saw his point... until now. (points to compass) AMY -- What point do you get from a compass? LIZ -- Not from the compass. From making a course correction. It never even occurred to me that hiking with a compass had any room for error. AMY -- And that translates to a daily quiet time.... how? LIZ -- Looking back. The secret is looking back. You know where you want to go. But you don't even know if your off course unless you look back occasionally to make a course correction. AMY -- I still don't understand. LIZ -- Well, we're on high ground now, so we can look back and see where we've been. But back there (points) on low ground, we didn't have much visibility. Looking back at the low spots from the high ground, we can see where we got off course. AMY -- Spiritually off course. LIZ -- But it's even worse than that. AMY -- How so? LIZ -- During the rat race, we don't even have a compass to guide us in the low spots. We just go in some general direction; we go with the flow. But what if the flow is not where God wants us to go? Without making a course correction every day, we could be accumulating errors that would take us miles off course. AMY -- And that's assuming we know where we're going. LIZ -- That's why we need a monthly get away, to plot our next trip. If we don't have a firm destination, we have no direction. We're just wandering aimlessly. AMY -- Alright, you talked me into it. I'll set aside time for a daily quiet time and a monthly get-away if you will. (offers hand) LIZ -- It's a deal. (shakes hands) AMY -- Now, aren't you glad we paused for a course correction? LIZ -- What's our new compass heading? AMY -- (exiting, points precisely) Five degrees north of due east. LIZ -- (follows) Lead the way. ©2013 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org email: [email protected] BACK |