Change of Pace

Before “quarantine” and “social distancing” became everyday phrases, I had been reading and thinking about how life seemed to be speeding faster and faster as I was caught in a whirlwind of rush and hurry.  I was looking at setting more boundaries on technology, on commitments, on striving.  I was hoping to implement rest, thoughtfulness, intentionality….then this.  Early on my focus was on loss.  Loss of normal, loss of vacations, loss of school activities, loss of freedom to be overwhelmed by choices for food, activities, even toilet paper brands for crying out loud!

But in the past week I have begun to think that some things have gotten left behind in the last two months that maybe are worth leaving behind.  What are these though?  Well in the loss of a hard and fast bell schedule our kids have to keep, I have started using the early morning quiet to read and write and have put my runs off until daylight.  Believe it or not, there are actual people that walk our streets, not just dark houses and occasional cars warming up to head to work before the sun rises.  I’ve met a new friend named Terry.  He recently retired and is adding some serious mileage with some extra time on his hands.  I’m about 20 years his junior, but one day he invited me to join him.  I had a more intense run in mind, but instead I took a more leisurely pace and enjoyed the company (6 feet apart of course).  Now we pass each other regularly and we will change our pace and run together.  We have shared names, training plans, race stories and race dreams, and honestly I’ve found that the time chatting is much better than any achievements I might gain from that extra speed workout or a couple more miles.  

Matthew 20:28 says “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  The Gospels are chalked full of stories of Jesus serving.    If anyone had an important mission, it was Jesus, we might even say his mission of life, death, and resurrection was the most important of anyone’s ever.  But one thing I see in Jesus, he wasn’t so important that he didn’t have time for people.  Instead, Jesus embraced interruptions.  On a mission to bring someone back to life, he healed a woman who just touched his robe on the way.  Getting ready to teach thousands, he feeds them first.  Jesus’ life was not marked by rushing but by interruptions that turned out to be divine encounters.  

How can my life reflect that type of awareness?  As we talk about what our “new normal” might look like, I am hoping for less rush and more margin that allows for these divine encounters, where I see God at work in and around me.  I have found that some of the moments of joy through this whole time of quarantine have been the few minutes I’ve shared with neighbors from my front porch or learning the name of that dog and his owner as they walk past me on the street.  I hope divine encounters become a way of defining what I used to call “interruptions”.  As a life of service reshapes us to see others as more significant than ourselves, I hope that changing pace helps me to tune in to others as I take the focus off myself.  This change of pace has definitely been unexpected, but the lessons I’m learning are welcome wisdom!  What about you?