A friend needed my car today, so I rode the bus to work. I left the house without eating breakfast, or packing a lunch, because it was time to leave, if I wanted to catch the bus.
The timing was perfect. Free parking downtown (where I dropped off the car for them). Time enough to get a cup of coffee from the café in their building. The bus rounded the corner just as I stepped outside...
Now I had thirty stress-free minutes to drink my coffee and have a conversation with my buddy Luke. So, Luke is recounting the long approach to Jerusalem. Jesus is talking about greed. Talking ‘bout greed and the anxiety that leads to greed. He talks about it a lot. This particular story was about the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. God provides so richly for these and cares even more for us.
I pondered this a bit, knowing that lately I’ve been vulnerable to the lure of spending and consuming. Really – we have eight pets in our house, each one extending our eccentricities a little further. I can busy-up the smallest increment of spare time. I pondered, wondering how to open myself to God and close a little more of myself off from the world without creating barriers of pets, hobbies and stuff.
I don’t know the answer to this question, except that it doesn’t begin with me.
When I got to work, my mind was once again on the cares of the world: What time did I reach my desk and which bus can I take home while still giving a full measure of eight-hours effort? Then I was invited to breakfast.
At work, we’re getting ready for a big, semi-annual meeting, and doing it in a new, creatively frugal, way. The company provided a very nice breakfast buffet to say thank you.
I tell others that God speaks to us in the ways we are listening, but I will admit I feel like a prodigal child. Did God throw a party because my face turned toward home?
