Pastoral Thought--September 14

I wonder, have you ever began a day, or a week, wondering what God planned for you in the immediate future? And ask you ask that question, no immediate answer comes to mind; instead a certain blankness seems to occupy that space.

Jennifer and I woke up this morning a little past 5:15am so that she could get ready for work. Our room was still quite dark with only the hum of the humidifier cutting through the silence in the house. Our ‘blackout’ curtains were doing their job well. As I sat up, stretching my shoulders back and ‘wheeling’ them around in a small circle, I headed for the kitchen and what I knew my body wanted—coffee. The grogginess in my mind was so great that I seemed to circle the kitchen island over and over again looking for a spoon, then selecting a coffee mug, and then filling the coffee maker. . . Frankly, I felt a bit lost as I scratched the back of my head and chuckled when I thought, “if anyone walked by they would think I was lost in my own house.” But I wasn’t.  

The morning progressed as it should—Jennifer made it off to work a little after 645am as she normally does, and I had plenty of time to run, or walk Luna, or ride the bike, or do whatever my heart felt like for a workout. I choose to run. . . so out I headed into the cool morning listening to some music that I liked. The sound of my footfalls timed up nicely with the beat of each song as the miles ticked off. . . 1. 2. 1. 2. 1. 2. I spread my fingers out as I rang and shook out my wrists as they felt a little tight. Without Luna to run with (I didn’t feel like waking her this morning) I would have no reason to tighten my shoulders or lean against her aggressive pull. 1. 2. 1. 2. 1. 2. I counted. And I enjoyed being outside on an empty street. 

As I finished my run somewhere on Hope Road, I switched off the music and started a podcast that would accompany me home. All the while, I was thinking, “Well God, what do you have for me today?” I walked on a bit and waved at a runner going the opposite way. The only answer to my question was silence and a nagging pain in my left shin that I knew would need a couple Advil before I had breakfast. 

As I continue walking, and thinking about God’s plan for my day, the words of Samuel Wells came to mind. In a book that I used as part of my doctoral work, Wells’ wrote the following: 

"The key to participation is to focus in a discipline way on the word with. There may be a hundred quicker, more efficient, more satisfying, more exciting ways to pass time, but being with means concentrating on how that time can genuinely be time with."  

I kept walking and enjoyed just being with God on Hope Road and then onto Plains Church. Nothing else was accomplished outside of a good walk that helped me stretch my legs back out as I prepared for the morning. Maybe the answer to that initial question about what God has planned for you is that God wants to just be with you. Maybe that is enough today. Maybe the list of tasks, the to-do list, the stressors at work and home, which are all important, can take a step to the side so that God has room to be with you? 

It does not always feel like the most efficient way to spend time with God, but it is the most effective. . . As you start your new week, find some space to just be with God. Concentrate there, and learn from your Creator.

Blessings

Rev. Derek