There are sheets of rain blanketing the windshield, as we’re speeding down a stretch of road I feel like I could drive with my eyes closed, blindfolded.
I know these curves, the bends, the bumps — they are etched into the memory of the hands holding the wheel and the foot pressing the gas pedal.
The rain pounds louder, harder, faster.
I check my speed and consider slowing down.
As I ease off the gas, decelerate, I find myself relieved by the choice as the car heaves through deeper-than-expected water.
I think, movie-stream in my mind — about all the things that could have happened before I settle on being grateful for what did and simultaneously didn’t happen.
****
We’ve been going through the Gospel of Luke as part of the reading for a class we’re taking at church.
Before we dove into the reading, I’d been feeling like I knew that book — the stories, the messages, the application — like I know the soft space in my bed my body falls into every night.
And I thought, since I’d just read Luke in December, perhaps, I could speed through its familiar streets, press the gas pedal and power through.
But someone in the group posed that we read Luke through the lens of community, with the focus on Jesus’ life in relation to community.
I pressed the brake in my reading, taking into account the new conditions of the road — the change of the situation.
And I find myself humbled and thankful at the decision to slow down because I’m seeing Jesus through new eyes while trying to understand his life in the context of community, which is {totally UN} coincidentally what’s been heavy on my heart.
I’m taking note of the numbers of people He poured His life into — His three closest friends, the 12 disciples, the 77 followers, His Heavenly Father– and how He interacted with each personally in such a personal, unique way.
As I ease off the gas, decelerate, I find myself relieved by the choice as the mind heaves through deeper-than-expected water. And I settle on being grateful for the slowing because of what I surely would have missed.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12
I’d like to thank Hyacynth for joining me in celebrating my new space by being a guest poster for today. Hyacynth writes at Undercover Mother. She is also Co-founder of Bigger Picture Blogs. Click on over to read more of my sweet friends beautiful words.
