May 23, 2024

Neighboring Practices

Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it… 

We have lived in our house for nearly 22 years and have been members of Grace almost that long. I can’t even begin to count how many trips to church I have made in the last 2 decades. Here’s a thing about those many trips I have made, 100% of them have been made in our cars, either driving myself or riding along. (A few bike trips are in the total.) Too many of the trips have been rushed, trying to get there just in time for something, feeling frustrated when I get a red left turn arrow! Most of the time, I quickly park my car and head into church at my quickest pace. I wonder if anyone else ever squeals into the parking lot and rushes into the building. 

Neighboring Practices has led me to ponder some of my own behaviors in relationship to Grace and the surrounding neighborhood. Quite by accident, I came across a little film called Godspeed. (https://www.livegodspeed.org/watchgodspeed-cover). It has triggered some observations for me that I will attempt to share. First, Jesus didn’t have a car. We are a culture of cars. We go fast and we go often. The people who share our road are barely seen, let alone acknowledged. Jesus walked. Let that sink in. What was his pace, I wonder? When one walks and shares a path, one tends to see the other people on the path. Did Jesus smile and say hello to his neighbors? He probably knew most of them by name and they knew him. Where humans live in a walking culture, are they always in a hurry? Are they aware of their surroundings as they walk? I doubt that Jesus and his neighbors ever walked to get their steps in or to get their heart rates up. Instead, they probably walked in rhythm with their daily tasks, and likely had enough time to stop and talk to their neighbors. 

Another thing I ponder is sound. The corner of Round Lake and Bunker Lake Boulevards is a busy, noisy place. There is a constant hum of traffic with frequent high decibel mufflers and sirens. All of the hum, mufflers and sirens, are signs of the life stories that move through the intersection at any given time. In Jesus’ time, he didn’t hear the sounds we hear. When he walked, he didn’t use earbuds to diminish the sounds of his neighborhood. I imagine he heard the sounds of conversation, laughter, singing, babies crying, children playing, birds, animals, raindrops, wind in the trees or grasses, his own footsteps on the path. These are sounds of people doing life 2000 years ago. Those same sounds still exist, but it takes a different mindset to really hear them. The traffic certainly provides the sound of people doing life in 2024, and in its way, it speaks of God’s blessings, so we give thanks for the life we have. Still, I wonder if there’s a way to train my ears to hear more of the sounds that Jesus might have heard, the sounds of life that are really more intimate and authentic.  

As I ponder the life of Jesus, the actual day-to-day life, I wonder what I can do to invite Jesus’ reality into my own culture and behaviors. I will still drive my car to church each time I go. But could I get out of the car and take a minute to observe my surroundings? Could I open my eyes a little bit more and observe the church in its place, the human beings coming and going? Could I learn more people’s names? What, I wonder, does Jesus see and hear as he moves through this neighborhood, and could I be open to sharing his view?   

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it… 

Let it be so. -Anne Weikle, FPNP Team Member