Along

"Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand" (Thomas Carlyle).

I drove to Delaware this weekend.

My friend Jonathon Stalls began his Walk Across America from Lewes, Delaware. He needed to get there, so I took him. We made it to Maryland in around 26 hours of straight driving and enjoyed the hospitality of our friends Brian and Amanda Moore before continuing on to Delaware the next morning. We dipped our feet in the icy Atlantic and said our farewells on the morning of March 1st, and Curtis and I climbed back into the car and headed west to the Rockies. Four thousand miles in four days is quite a road trip.

Exhausting? Yes, but well worth the time to be near the one's I love. Once again, the road provided me an opportunity to think about what I value most in life. Interwoven with this life in Christ is the life I share with those whom God has placed in my life. I cannot extract the One from the other. Moments like these get me thinking about the joy and privilege I have to come along side of others and share this life with them.

It got me thinking about my brothers and sisters in Christ who preach from a pulpit made of distance and seldom experience the joy of coming along side those outside the walls. The distance their theology prescribes keeps them separate, and I imagine that they are comfortable with the outcomes.

For me, I am moved by the stories of Jesus who came along side all kinds of people. The love of Christ compels me to share my life, to help where I can, to extend my circuit of comfort, and to love more than what my narrow-mindedness can afford. We need to come close and allow others to come close as well. It is what Jesus did.

Four thousand miles in four days might seem ridiculous, and it probably is. I'm ok with that. It afforded me a few more days to come along side those I love and share in their journey.