Finding My Way

I’ve been bicycling over the last few weeks.  Last year I hit it far too hard right at the beginning.  I was sore for days.  This year I’m starting slowly and building up.  Today, though, I got a phone call and ended up heading back to the apartment way too soon.  On the way home I was gliding down the street and realized I just really didn’t want to stop.  I think that bicycling has become a spiritual practice for me.  It’s not just exercise anymore.

When I bike I find my mind can wander freely.  It’s a time when I can think about whatever is most important in that moment.  Sometimes that is something unexpected that I didn’t even realize was on my mind.  I can daydream about my new job in Pontiac.  I can think about the next sermon topic or scripture for preaching class.  Perhaps, though, I find myself thinking about something as asinine as my car’s squeaky brakes or the laundry that I need to do.  But, increasingly often I find myself, simply, by myself.

Over the past few years of bicycling, my prayer life has been increasing as well.  It is not always intentional prayer, but sometimes it is better than my best prepared or most earnestly said prayers.  When I’m out on my bike, I find myself asking questions, considering my own life, and looking for answers.  I find myself [silently, i hope] talking to myself, no one, and God…all at once, sometimes!  When I go bicycling I am growing in mind, body, and spirit -it turns out.  Who would have thought?

I believe in this world of constant contact it is sometimes difficult to just be alone.  Perhaps, though, we need to find times and activities that allow us to be self-reflective.  We need to allow our minds to wander…and when we least expect it, perhaps, we will find ourselves meditating and growing in prayer…even talking to God without realizing it.  I think that each of us should find an activity that we love and as we practice it (like taking long bike rides with an iPod blasting) we will find God listening to us…perhaps we will even discover God somewhere within ourselves!

   Northminster Presbyterian Church in Evanston, where I am an intern, recently made a decision to house the homeless.  After discussions with other area churches they realized a need to help families that have become homeless, especially in light of the recent economic crisis.  They, with other churches, founded a new local initiative called Family Promise.  Family Promise is part of a nation-wide program where church take turns housing recently homeless families so that the children and parents can be kept together and have access to their schools and workplaces.
    The church has been enthusiastic of its support for this program.  The church helped the new program purchase cots, curtains, toys and all of the things that would be necessary to create a temporary home for the people we are trying to help. This week was the first week of the program in Evanston but we found ourselves setup and ready but without families.
    We could easily become discouraged that, perhaps, this is a bad program or disillusioned that there is not need of the program.  What I have seen at Northminster, however, is excitement.  We realized that, even though there was the hiccup of no participants this week, we could do this.  We setup the church and had all of the volunteers and money in place for our turn.  We did it!
    It turned out that it was a test run, but the test run had purpose it proved that we could do it and it proved that we were faithful in our promise, even if there were not yet families to accept the help.  I’m reassured that there are applications turned in, there is a great need, and that the churches are ready.  Come our next turn hosting the program will be running smoothly and there will be people living in our church.
    Isn’t this like God’s promises?  God promises us love.  God promises us life.  God promises us faithfulness.  Northminster remained faithful to its promise and so does God hold faithful the promises that she makes.  The family that was lined up, from what I understand, became nervous about this new program.  Perhaps they were embarrassed.  Perhaps they were afraid that we would not live up to the promise we have made.
    It seems that we have become accustomed to fellow humans not living up to their promises.  We have become used to unfaithfulness and disappointment.  What God offers us is a steadfast, ironclad promise.  This promise is expressed in scripture and should be expressed through communities of faith.  As a church -as a community of faith, we must be faithful to one another, to humanity-at-large, to all of creation, and to our Almighty God.

Every since I got engaged this blog has been hi-jacked by personal stories that are probably not very interesting, so today let me reflect a bit on something even more obscure:  Groundhog Day!

    Here is an interesting holiday.  We ceremoniously parade out Punxsutawney Phil to see if he will retreat back into his den or cage.  American culture has set aside a day that we watch with fascination as a groundhog retreats into her/his hole.  Can we all agree that this is an obscure and bizarre holiday???  Now is the time when I admit that I love groundhog day.  Not because I’ve ever been to see Phil nor because I put any stock in Phil’s predictions, but I love groundhog day because it is obscure.  It reminds us of our fascination with the unexplained, the accult, the bizarre, the supernatural.  It reminds us that we want to believe in more than what can be seen or measured by science.
    By all accounts Easter is much like Groundhog Day to many Americans.  Crazy Christians gather in their churches to see if Jesus is in the tomb.  If Jesus has risen (He always has) then they are inexplicably ‘saved.’  For those of us who are Christians, Easter is not meaningless like Groundhog Day but it is bizarre, really.  Can we imagine what it must look like to those of other faiths?  Can we imagine what it looks like to those with no faith?  How is it that we bring forth the story of Easter that others will appreciate the mystery, the excitement and even the bizarre nature of the day without writing it off as a superstition?
    I think first of all we have to take time to just enjoy the moment.  We can use groundhog day to practice.  Can we just experience Groundhog Day in all of its uniqueness?  Can we forget about the fact that weather and sunlight contribute to whether the animal wants to come out or not?  Can we forget about meteorology, climate and weather patterns?  Let’s set aside science and technology and just enjoy the moment today.  We’ll watch a groundhog for what it is and we’ll accept that the experience of watching the groundhog is worth something.  As Christians, when we arrive at Easter in just a few months, perhaps we will remember this exercise.  Let’s set aside the technological and scientific and just accept that the experience of Easter is where we will find the truth.

   Two weeks of time spent with family and friends is coming to a close and we ended the time with a great New Year’s party at Carrie’s parents.  Each year Bob and June put on a Northeast-style New Year’s Lobster dinner.  It was great fun.
    I was pretty much a nervous-wreck, though, before New Year’s Eve.  At the start of the fall, before I had even proposed, Carrie had a conversation with me, “So Scott, don’t be mad at me, but I was talking to mom and dad…and they want to invite you parents to New Year’s.”  It took me a moment to recover but I realized that if I was going to follow through with asking her to marry me- then the families would have to meet.  Carrie said, “Great!  There is one other thing, and don’t be mad, but actually my parents didn’t ask.  I told them to invite your parents.”
    Well, you can imagine how this conversation went.  The whole thing began to stress me out, but over the last few months I warmed up to the idea that our parents would, indeed, meet.  But a few days ago I realized with horror that they really were about to meet!  Now, really I know, there isn’t actually anything to worry about.  We both have likable parents.  Yet, knowing, that everything will be alright doesn’t change the feeling of fear and trepidation that I was feeling!
    It is actually something her father said that calmed my nerves just before my parents arrived.  He said, “Scott, it doesn’t matter if we like one another or not.  It’s not us getting married its you and Carrie!”
    I don’t exactly know why I told all of this, but in the end, our parents got on very well.  Our dads talked politics, our moms talked wedding, and we got to hang out with Carrie’s cousins and friends.