Here's what I do every day as I pedal down the road. I hold three objects--a key, a piece of water buffalo's horn from South Africa, and my rearview mirror. As I caress the water buffalo's horn between thumb and index finger, I pray for our mission team--ten teens and adults who will soon fly 11,000 from family and home and help build a house for a family that, as I write, live in squalor and call a corrugated tin shanty with no toilet or running water or furniture the only home they've known.
The key hangs around my neck in a necklace. Dixie wears the rest of the necklace--a heart with a key-sized hole in it. So I pray for the one wearing the other part, for Dixie, then for my entire famly.
And my bike mirror. Sometimes my riding partner, Rick, comes into view. Sometimes I see people on cell phones, trucks on a mission to drop off their goods. So I pray for safety and no mistakes. That Rick and I will be kept safe on the road for another day.
What objects might compel you to pray? Maybe some of the most common things in your life--a picture, a cufflink, or polished stone may become the very sacrament that will bring you to another place for others.
Objects, objects loaded with holiness, sacred to the touch, objects that move me from where I am to where I want to be. These objects move us closer to where God would have us – in dialogue with Him and one another. As Tom and Rick pedal, monotonously down the road, executing pedal push after pedal push, they are reminded of those who need prayers. May we equally take up our own objects that help us reach out instead of in, to the community around, to the world around, taking our prayers outward for all those that are part of our life and will cross our paths. Thanks Tom and Rick for modeling where we all need to be…
ReplyDeleteWell put, John.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding us of the beauty of "slo-mo" and the quiet blessing we can be right here and right now.
Great prayer suggestions. Thanks for the encouragement. Keep pedaling and keep praying.
ReplyDelete