On the Road...So many things we take for granted.
Most of you know we were in Wales for 10 days. The train systems were ok but not that good so we realized we’d need a car. Day one...Aberystywyth, Wales...town of 10,000. Thank heaven it wasn’t London. The Car rental place was down by the rail station. Our B & B was on the other side of town. Have any of you ever driven in Britain??? When the Prayer Group ladies heard what we were going to do you should have seen the look of shock and worry. They said, “Well pray for you Pastor...and for your family.”
Its one thing to know (here in your head) that everything is on the wrong side ...or as the Brits say, “You Yanks drive on the right side...we drive on the correct side.” It’s one thing to know it here but getting behind the wheel and then driving. I’m SO glad I was alone. Out of the parking lot, down the road and out onto a roundabout. Round and round...Launched into the narrow streets . Most streets were one car width wide and one way but not in some kind of orderly fashion. It was a conspiracy... no matter what I did suddenly there was the train station ahead of me again. Back onto the roundabout...round and around, launch. Into the middle of town.
Suddenly I realized I had turned down a one way street...the wrong way. Prayer group ladies your prayers were working...no cars...so I saw a little side street I could go down and I gunned it. There was an elderly Welsh gentleman walking along the sidewalk. Weathered face...tweed cap. He looked up at me and started waving his cane....”You’re going the wrong way!” I know...I know...dumb dyslexic Yank! Back to the rail station onto the roundabout again. I finally made it...took an hour and a half to go a half mile...but it got better.
A few weeks ago I was at Lutherwood Camp. During the lunch break I wandered down to the shore of Lake Samish and all of a sudden I found myself at the outdoor worship space. I remembered being there in Middle School. Singing...
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
No turning back, no turning back.
When my friends and I sang this song at church camp, we sang deeply, often tears in my eyes, seated on the ground with the cross shining in the light of the campfire in front of us. With my heart pounding and tears in my eyes I felt so..”On the way”... so close.
In those moments, I was determined to set my face toward him. But my single-mindedness never lasted too long. Some good fight with another cabin...some kid that pulled a nasty prank and I was off. That’s what life has been like in many ways. Off the road, down wrong way streets, a voice telling me I’m going the wrong way.
The cross before me, the world behind me,
The cross before me, the world behind me,
The cross before me, the world behind me,
No turning back, no turning back.
Lent challenges us to try. I know that even in Lent I won't be able to walk straight toward the cross. I've tried before. Only Jesus could do that. As he touched the lives of a lot of people on the way maybe he'll catch me along the way too: to heal, to teach, or just to sit for a while. Saint Benedict WAY back in the 5th century told us that Lent wasn’t a time to suddenly “become” Christian. These things we call disciplines are things Christians should be doing all the time. We think of it as a grinder...but setting aside time for prayer. Just as simple as sitting and opening up your heart to God. Just talking to him. Bible study...reading his word. Giving of yourself to help others, even fasting. The point is that these are ways to meet him. To walk with him. The goal is not perfect holiness...its the journey.
I have decided to follow Jesus... Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem...how I have yearned to gather you together like a hen gathers her chicks. “You’re going the wrong way!” I know...I know...but I’ve got to keep trying.
Amen
