Uncovering Joy – A Wilderness
“And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” Mark 1:12-13
When we are called stewards of God’s creation, we are given the responsibility to be caretakers of all that is. We become caretakers by being the ones created in the image of our God – who creates all things. This image defines how we are to take care and nurture and oversee the balance and interconnectedness of every part of the world around us. It can sound like a task too great for us. Who can be these people?
The stewardship of the Reign of God need not be overwhelming. When we are confounded about how much we think we must do as stewards, we would do well to simply open our eyes and watch for signs of God’s gracious Reign. Most often, in the mix of all the passing bodies and the fast movement of time as we move from one place to another, we do not let ourselves see how God’s Reign is already breaking in around us. It can all look like a wilderness rather than a blessed creation. As God’s Reign unfolds around us, it is too easy to be seduced and tempted by the agendas we have placed on the day. When this happens, we miss the sheer simplicity of grace that is the shaping force of our care taking. When we see graciousness bending down to foster a domain of care in times and places that appear to give no room to such acts, we are exposed to the joy of God’s Reign that really does transform life.
After two crowded bus rides into Puerto Vallarta, we took to the streets ready for the adventures of new food, new sights, new works of art, and the mass of crowded sidewalks and roadways. As you would expect in a port city on a day when two cruise ships pulled into the bay before dawn, there were people everywhere. Lines of people followed tour guides, small groups of tourists wearing identifying wristbands moved in and out of stores, and the usual fast-paced local traffic moved without hesitation. When it was time to cross the street, I had to make a mental note to be careful. It would be my instinct to dart across between cars and buses but with a healing Achilles tendon, I had to make sure I thought ahead and planned for every street crossing.
In all of this mix and movement, the bus that was about to zip by us just stopped in the middle of the road. As you would expect, a few horns honked and the road became an instant bottle neck. There just to our right we witnessed the simplicity of an act of stewardship and grace. A small man, bent over and carrying a large, cloth bag had stepped off the curb on the other side of the road. I’m sure this was not the first time the old man had marched out into traffic with only the other side of the street in his sights. His frail frame did not cover the deliberateness with which he stepped off into the roaring river of traffic that could have swept him under its rushing flow.
In that moment, though, the bus came to an abrupt stop. A bus filled with people who have places to go and people to see – stops. A bus driver who, like other drivers, does his job with a sense of passion and urgency – stops. The river...the flood of traffic like the River Jordan – stops so this old man could cross over to the other side.
In most places, the shouting would begin. We would expect that. In most places, the heat of the day, the late hour of the workday, and the press of time would make enough excuses for the old man to be the center of a foul exchange or a reprimand by driver and riders. Not so. The young driver did not shout out a word. There was no visible sense of dismay at having to hold up traffic. In this potentially restless place, the driver simply leaned forward, rested his arms on his steering wheel, took a breath, and waited. The safety of this old man was more foundational to this driver‟s day than the schedule at hand. The well-being of an anonymous soul was more to consider than the destination that many wanted to reach.
In those moments, though filled with the slowness of the old man‟s steps, the patience and grace of the young driver, and the intensity of this city street, I thought of these words “honor your father and mother.” It was a simple act of being a steward of life within the Reign of God. We care for the creation with simple gestures that honor those around us. We honor those around us by making sure there will be room for those who need room. We honor and care for the elders among us by keeping our eyes open so that the most vulnerable will be safe in our presence.
All this takes place within the wilderness of our lives that often tempts us to live a different way. But then, right when life moves too quickly to notice the needs of others and we are tempted to act according to our own desires and needs, the bus stopped and God‟s creation was honored and we were all blessed. Joy breaks out when within the wilderness of our world people entertain moments of wholeness and loving kindness - shalom.
Moving along urban streets can seduce us into a life of separation and indifference. Too many people can become an excuse to limit our vision. Heavy traffic and the pressures of having to negotiate this street and that sidewalk and all those vehicles and all those people can be an arena in our lives that we choose to flee. It is easy to become one more piece of the mass of life that is simply on its way to some place other than right here. Urban spirituality blossoms within such fertile ground. In what can be a wilderness of intensity, we are graced with visions of God‟s stewards making moments and places safe and secure – like an oasis that serves to refresh all who are present.
Later that day it was time to return to the small town in which we were spending our vacation. The day was bending toward dinner time, the heat was peaking, and I wanted to get in the water. The bus was brimmed full with local folks and a few gringos like my wife and me. The ride out of the city is always an adventure because each bus has its very own character.
Drivers decorate the front of the bus with everything from devotional pictures to displays of their own heritage. This is not just a place to work. There is a sense of ownership and pride as we meander through the streets together and each driver exhibits their own sense of stewardship as they carry us to our destinations.
On this day within the stewardship of this bus, a middle-aged woman entered the bus and offered her twenty pesos to the driver and received her ticket. As she turned to walk down the aisle, she noticed that the very first set of two seats was occupied by one older woman. The older woman had a small bag resting at her feet and the seat next to the window was empty. She was bent over, resting, and did not seem to be paying attention to the people who were getting on the bus. This middle-aged woman took a step toward the older woman and asked if she could move over into the seat next to the window to make room for another person to sit down. I may not have caught the inflection of her voice and therefore did not know if it was a polite request or a word of direction filled with the expectation that this younger woman would be given the aisle seat she wanted
Within a breath of this request, there was a thundering “No!” from the bus driver. The “No” was a rebuke. It was a warning that this younger woman should move back in the bus and not attempt to make this woman move from her seat. I didn’t know if this was the driver‟s mother, or grandmother. I did not know if this was a person in special care of the driver. I did not know if there was any personal tie between the two. With that “No,” all of us on the bus understood that this old woman was under the care of this driver. The reason for the relationship did not matter. The driver was going to see to her place of rest and comfort and peace even if he had to put forward the booming voice of a dictator.
After the initial shock of the encounter and watching the younger woman walk to a seat in the rear of the bus, the commandment calling for honoring father and mother filled the front of the bus. Twice in one day I was a witness to the embodiment of stewardship in the Reign of God. Within the same breath as the driver‟s pointed directive, he was right back into the rush of traffic that made all of us – seated and standing – hold on.
Even within the rush of events that can appear to be congested and rushed and chaotic, a vision of shalom and care and honor can be realized. We can be truly human and see to the care of the least among us within the hustle and bustle of the most common places where people interact without great contemplation. Could it be that as we move through our days with the stories of our faith, we are given the opportunity to put those stories to life?
The bus continued to fill up as a handful of school children paid their fare and stood in the aisle. A woman carrying an infant entered the bus and there again within God’s Reign upon a bus, a woman sitting across from the older woman stood up gave her seat to the young mother. This woman who gave up her seat gently bent down to speak to the older woman and explained that she was going to step past her to sit in the seat next to her at the window. It was a smooth movement. It was done with care and honor. This time, the bus driver said nothing at all. The older woman maintained her place – she was now being honored by two people – first the bus driver and then this woman who understood something about how stewardship within the Reign of God operated on this bus. What a moment of joy was being uncovered in a place that is usually too full and too chaotic to allow for anything but self-centered preservation.
I often wonder about how often we fear the wilderness moments of our everyday life rather than enter them as the stewards of life within God’s Reign that we are. For some reason, we have decided that we can best contemplate the wonders of God’s creation and the way our lives are being directed by going away from the presence of this river of life that moves all around us within the ordinary moments of life within the city. Retreating “from” the everyday clutter of activity and voices can be a wonderful experience but it is creative only when that time away has an impact on how we receive and interact with the life and energy and motion of the ordinary.
Urban spirituality is a retreating “into” that in which we are moving - like that rush of traffic and the rule of order on that bus. Within the wilderness of the dynamics of everyday, we are gifted to see God’s Reign, being uncovered and be taken up with joy. Too often we walk by the action around us as though we are not connected to all the waves of life that wash around us. The temptations to be “turned-in-on-ourselves” are great.
Without taking note of simple gifts where people bend and bow to honor life, we miss the glory of God’s Reign that makes the ordinary shine with new life. When Jesus is out in the wilderness being tempted, he is being tempted to be – in the ordinary and everyday rush of life – someone other than the beloved of God. Taking with us the vision of God’s shalom as we drive through the chaos of this day is meant to keep us open to being a part of that shalom. Sometimes that means we stop the way things are moving. At other times it may mean we speak up in order to make a place in time safe for all. On or off the bus we are invited to stop and re-view with creative eyes, all that God has placed before us.
TRRR
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