If you are a parent, I’m sure you’ve experienced your child avoiding you like the plague if they know they have done wrong. Or, if they are in trouble, they may not look directly at you when you are talking to them.

Where do you go when you are trying to get away from life, a task, or a certain person? I know I will go for a walk in a pretty wooded area when I am trying to avoid life in general or need space from someone. I will even fly to my family in the Carolinas when I just need a break from life up in Michigan. 

A Navy ship has a captain, there is a command structure and the ship runs under clear direction and authority. Leading by consensus is a terrible model and Elisha made it clear when he said, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”, to the company of prophets (2 Kings 2:18).

Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, and when the end of his days came he had performed double the miracles of his mentor. I have often wondered what the silence was like when the waters of the Jordan piled up and the two men of God walked on crunching gravel to the other side.

My father passed away this past January and my older brother, with his medical background, spent endless hours helping my Dad navigate those strange and difficult days.