FROM THE PASTOR…
Summer has begun! In the summer, people generally do things a little differently than in the winter months. Even at church, we worship earlier because the sun comes up earlier and shines longer during the day. We don’t have Sunday school, and we have volunteers hosting Fellowship time following worship rather than assigning Deacons and Ruling Elders. And we enjoy the great outdoors by getting on the bicycle more often, or walking, or enjoying time in the garden, or soaking up the sunshine on a beach.
One thing I noticed on the Sabbatical last year was how Europeans tend to walk, ride bikes, and use public transit much more than Americans. Their society is structured in ways that promote these year round, with public walking paths overland through the countryside, pedestrian only urban cores, and protected, dedicated bike lanes often separate from the main roadways. But in the USA, cars and trucks dominate our transportation system, and others, such as cyclists, are categorized as “Vulnerable Users” of the roadways.
There is a joke that says Jesus and his followers drove a Honda, because they were all in one, “Accord,” but the reality is that Jesus walked. A galloping horse or a sailboat on a windy day was about the fastest experience of travel people in that day would know. Mostly, Jesus and his followers traveled at the speed of walk. Barbara Brown Taylor reflects on this:
Jesus walked a lot, and not only during the last week of his life. The four gospels are peppered with accounts of him walking into the countryside, walking by the Sea of Galilee, walking in the Temple, and even walking on water…. This gave him time to see things. If he had been moving more quickly–even to reach more people–these things might have become a blur to him. Because he was moving slowly, they came into focus for him, just as he came into focus for them. Sometimes he had a destination, sometimes he did not. For many who followed him around, he was the destination…. While many of his present-day admirers pay close attention to what he said and did, they pay less attention to the pace at which he did it.
-Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World
This summer, be intentional about slowing down and doing things differently. Try and walk or ride a bike more, or stroll through a garden. This will slow you down, hopefully enough that you notice more things in their amazing detail, rather than speed by them in a blur. Get the perspective Jesus had as he talks about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, or when he went up into the mountains to pray, and how he interacted with people along the way. Maybe these outings will be the first steps in walking like Jesus walked, (in more ways than mere transportation or scenery). Maybe they are steps towards a deeper awareness of God’s loving grace, in Christ.
Have a great summer, share the roads, and I’ll see you on the mountain, in the garden, by the lake, or in the bike lane!