From the Pastor

July 2004

"My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you." -- Proverbs 3:1-2

I was six years old when I got my first two-wheeler bike (little did my parents know that they were creating a junkie!). I can still picture it: bright blue with a white banana seat and red, white, and blue plastic streamers flowing from the ends of the curved handlebars. It was a great bike, and I remember the excitement I felt when it was time for the training wheels to come off. The "parent-running-behind" ritual soon commenced, with my dad running behind the bike, keeping a hand on the seat to steady me as we went.

Very soon, though, I was moving on my own, riding up and down the street. As my confidence increased, so did my speed--I was soon zooming around like crazy. It felt great to me to go at a high speed powered by nothing but my own leg power! I still love that feeling.

My confidence grew more quickly than my skills, however. On one of my first high-speed trips back down the street toward our house, I heard my father yell from our front porch: "Brenny, don't forget to use the brakes!" We lived on the corner and on the downside of a hill, and I feel sure he saw disaster looming. With the supreme confidence of a six-year old, though, I did forget (or perhaps just did not pay attention to his warning) and I promptly flew out into the street--and I landed in a heap on the cement. Thankfully, I was just a little scraped--but I was a lot chagrined.

From that point on, whenever I found myself going too fast, I would hear my dad's voice of warning in my head. I still hear it when I am on my bike, most often when I am quickly descending a hill or rounding a curve.

It was a valuable lesson to learn. Braking is obviously essential to safe bicycling. But even more than that, it was my father's care and concern for my well being that stuck with me. It was important enough (I was important enough) that he felt compelled to watch me and to call out a warning so that I would not be hurt. He saw the danger before I did, and he tried to keep me from it.

It strikes me that this experience is reflective of our relationship with God. I wonder how often God looks upon our daily lives--with all the daily tasks, the feelings, the mistakes, the pettiness--and calls out: "Don't forget to use the brakes!" "Don't forget to slow down from all that busy-ness before you crash from exhaustion!" "Don't forget to put the brakes on your lips before they speak harmful words or pass on the latest gossip." "Don't forget to put on the brakes and remember how it is that I would have you live your life."

Life goes by so quickly. We humans have a tendency to get caught up in the fast-paced actions and deeds of life--and it can be easy to forget the brakes. It is so easy to go headlong into something without realizing the danger that lurks nearby.

In fact, it can even feel good to go at a fast and furious pace. It can often feel good to feel needed. It can even feel "good" to get caught up in listening to gossip or simmering in our anger and resentment.

But God, our ever-gracious and loving parent, knows that this fast and intense behavior is not good for us in the long term, physically or spiritually. God sees the danger in some of our activity, and calls out to us to use the brakes. God calls us to spend time in prayer and reflection--to spend some time slowing down and refocusing. God calls us to study the Word, so that we might find strength and hope in his commandments and wisdom. If we do not, sooner or later we will end up crashing, looking a little scraped and a lot chagrined...or even very hurt.

"Don't forget to use the brakes!" About what part of your life might God be calling out to you?

In Christ,
Pastor Brenda