I've started walking in the mornings in our neighborhood. Walking is good exercise, but it is also a form of prayer. Rev. Paul Nickerson suggests to the churches that he coaches that congregants walk through their community, pausing to pray for those who live in the houses and work in the businesses. Walking clears the mind and helps us observe things we would not otherwise see. With each step there is connection and communion with God's good world.
I've noticed that most people will wave in greeting when I'm on foot. I wonder why that is? When we are in cars meeting each other on these same streets, there is no gesture of acknowledgement. We hurry on. But when I'm walking, vulnerable to the approaching vehicle, there is usually a wave, an expression of neighborliness. I like that, for the world seems a bit less cold and impersonal when I'm on foot.
The other morning, a big yellow school bus lumbered past as I walked. I saw the back seats and the emergency exit door, and I was transported by a memory to a time about 55 years ago. It was the morning that I entered first grade. I had boarded the bus with my friend Glenn. We sat in the very back seat of the bus as it took us to the little elementary school in Swiss, Missouri. I remember seeing Glenn's parents following the bus. Ray and Marilyn were going to Swiss to enroll Glenn in the school. He was riding the bus, they were coming along in the family car.
It never dawned on me until I got to Swiss that my parents had not come along in our car. They had just put me on the bus and sent me off to school. I don't know whether they missed some memo or had made previous plans to have me enrolled. I was, after all, their eldest child. They had not been through the routine before. So I rode the bus and got off at the Swiss School. The principal, who was also my first-grade teacher, welcomed me; but I could tell she was confused. I had no parent present to enroll me.
It was at that moment that Evelyn Meyer came to my rescue. Evelyn was our neighbor. She was the cook at the Swiss School. She knew me. She enrolled me. Thus began my educational journey--because of a kind and caring neighbor. The village took care of me; we were all family. I remembered Evelyn as I walked along the road last week, watching that school bus make its way down the road. I hope the children on the bus also know that they have neighbors who are kind and caring, who will look out for them and help them to make their way in the world.
Lots of good things happen when I take the time to slow down and just walk, breathing in the cool morning air and the wonder of God's creation. Goodness and mercy accompany me. I am not abandoned or alone, and life is very good.
God, you meet me in the morning when the day is new. You lead me to find my way through this world one step at a time. I give thanks for the memory of Evelyn and all those who have accompanied me along life's path. May I be that kind of friend to those in need of family in these days. For the beauty and wonder of your creation, I give you thanks and praise, now and forever. Amen.
I've noticed that most people will wave in greeting when I'm on foot. I wonder why that is? When we are in cars meeting each other on these same streets, there is no gesture of acknowledgement. We hurry on. But when I'm walking, vulnerable to the approaching vehicle, there is usually a wave, an expression of neighborliness. I like that, for the world seems a bit less cold and impersonal when I'm on foot.
The other morning, a big yellow school bus lumbered past as I walked. I saw the back seats and the emergency exit door, and I was transported by a memory to a time about 55 years ago. It was the morning that I entered first grade. I had boarded the bus with my friend Glenn. We sat in the very back seat of the bus as it took us to the little elementary school in Swiss, Missouri. I remember seeing Glenn's parents following the bus. Ray and Marilyn were going to Swiss to enroll Glenn in the school. He was riding the bus, they were coming along in the family car.
It never dawned on me until I got to Swiss that my parents had not come along in our car. They had just put me on the bus and sent me off to school. I don't know whether they missed some memo or had made previous plans to have me enrolled. I was, after all, their eldest child. They had not been through the routine before. So I rode the bus and got off at the Swiss School. The principal, who was also my first-grade teacher, welcomed me; but I could tell she was confused. I had no parent present to enroll me.
It was at that moment that Evelyn Meyer came to my rescue. Evelyn was our neighbor. She was the cook at the Swiss School. She knew me. She enrolled me. Thus began my educational journey--because of a kind and caring neighbor. The village took care of me; we were all family. I remembered Evelyn as I walked along the road last week, watching that school bus make its way down the road. I hope the children on the bus also know that they have neighbors who are kind and caring, who will look out for them and help them to make their way in the world.
Lots of good things happen when I take the time to slow down and just walk, breathing in the cool morning air and the wonder of God's creation. Goodness and mercy accompany me. I am not abandoned or alone, and life is very good.
God, you meet me in the morning when the day is new. You lead me to find my way through this world one step at a time. I give thanks for the memory of Evelyn and all those who have accompanied me along life's path. May I be that kind of friend to those in need of family in these days. For the beauty and wonder of your creation, I give you thanks and praise, now and forever. Amen.
