HELLO!

Tonight, I went for a walk before our Council meeting. Early in the morning I was working with a couple who traveling across Canada, ran out of money, and need resources for housing, food, and community. Later, I attended a gathering of our gifted and generous foodbank volunteers (who represent several churches). Later still, I visited with a long-time member of our congregation. Then, I did the thing most of my colleagues experience, I sat in my office and listened/watched/engaged as Woodlawn people dropped in, shared touching, funny and stimulating stories from their lives. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are days I am tempting to do more of this, yet I still have 66% of the congregation left to visit, only 34 months left to complete this work I love. What makes the decision to be out visiting most afternoons easier to accept is this, when people do drop in, they get to experience the warmer and friendlier face/presence. Bethe is highly skilled as making people feel welcome.

In my walk I felt the cool breeze of Main Street, to my right were cars jammed in traffic like a lineup at Tim’s. In my walks I feel a presence, a calm, a source of wisdom and direction. I don’t think I would feel this way absent the many, many conversations throughout the day. Those conversations are the ingredients to my walking prayer, they form the basis of my questions, my confusion, my needs, my fears, my wonder and my hope. It’s a funny thing, when I pray for others and causes, I pray for solutions, healing, a just outcome, for God to bring peace to a chaotic mess. But, when it comes to me, I pray for clarity, for what to do next, for an understanding of what I can do next, how I can make sense of this challenge, and a pathway forward. Miracles and miraculous interventions are not out of the question, God works in mysterious ways, I have witnessed God’s surprising intervention. It’s never, ever, based on fairness, who deserves what, it’s not about innocence either. Instead, grace is about God, not us. It is as startling as it is an inspiration.

Yet, I do not pray for these interventions for myself, and I don’t know why. Perhaps, it is because I am fully aware of my privilege, how easy my life is compared to others. The one thing that really gets under my skin is entitlement, when others enlarge their own needs at the expense of those in greater need. If I am offering care to someone and another complains s/he/they are waiting too long, and the question they were waiting to ask is…“Can you sign my passport?”, my eyes will roll. I know my privilege, I don’t ever feel like asking for intervention, but I do so desperately want to understand, to respond in the most helpful way possible. And in these walks, the answers come. I am thankful.

Peace, Kevin

PS As I was walking back to the church after my walk, I could see a firetruck, with the lights on, in the parking lot. My heart was racing as I ran toward the crowd. As I drew closer, I saw Sparks/Brownies, laughing with excitement as they toured the truck. My heart is back to normal.