..."and a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness; evil minded people shall not travel on it, but it shall be for those wayfarers who are traveling toward God. (Isaiah 35:8, adapted)



Friday, August 09, 2013

Walking Slowly with The Three Mile an Hour God




I came across this lovely reflection....I dont know anything about the author, but he sure hit the truth!  originally published by Lawrence Denef

The Three Mile an Hour God
by
Lawrence Denef  (referring to Kosuke Kayama's famous term).
 
"A while ago I was in Tokyo for a Lutheran World Federation conference on "Mission in the City." The crowds in the streets, at the airports, on the subways, were like those in Ottawa on the first of July. One was literally shoved into and out of buses and buildings. Often we were able to see only the blur of persons in motions; we saw no faces.
 
In his opening remarks, the keynote speaker at the conference, a Japanese theologian, asked us to reflect on the speed at which we are living.
"The context in which most persons live is fast-moving urban life, with its noise, its hustle and bustle, its dominant impersonal relationships," he noted.

"People no longer see one another with faces, but as numbers and replaceable units in productive processes and systems."

After a pause, he contrasted our speed with God's pace. "Our God," he said, "is a three-mile-an-hour God."
 
That is the speed at which humans walk. That is the speed at which Jesus wended his way through Galilee -- touching the ill, chatting with widows, pausing in marketplaces to observe children at play, plucking grain in the fields on a sabbath day.
 
"The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath," he said. "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it," he said. "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'?" he said.

We were created in the image of a three-mile-an-hour God, and we have been called to be partners in ministry with a three-mile-an-hour God.
 
There will be no growth among us unless we stop running: no increase in understanding, no growth in faith, no sight for the blind, no help for the poor, no compassion for the outcast (and, for that matter, no increase in the numbers of the faithful) -- unless we stop running.

This world on the run needs people who are moving slowly enough to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice; people who are moving slowly enough to notice smiles of joy and tears of sorrow; People who are moving slowly enough to reach out to those in pain, to comfort those in suffering, to offer hope to those in despair.

An amazing observation! May we slow down and walk along with Jesus!

P.S. oddly I found out that Kosuke Kayama, passed away in a hospital very near to where I live. Since he was from Japan and I live in New England, I find that amazing! 
    
photo taken in Catskill, New York

3 comments:

Blue Eyed Ennis said...

I'm interested to know where you came across it because it's certainly doing the rounds at the moment. I posted it yesterday- it was a reblog from last year. Here's my link http://blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-three-mile-hour-god.html-

the original author is Lawrence Denef who posted at a site called Lift Up Your Hearts; sadly now defunct. The blog People for Others also featured it today.

Eclecticity said...

Don't know if you know this, but three mile an hour God is the title of a book of reflections Kosuke Koyama published by Orbis Books in 1982. I have it, and it is full of insights.

As for Kosuke Koyama, he was an ecumenical, Protestant theologian, you can read more about him here

The Pen of The Wayfarer said...

thanks Eclecticity and Blue Eyed Ennis! I updated the info a bit on the piece. I had not heard of Koyama. He happened to pass away in a hospital very near to me so I found that interesting. Blue Eyed Ennis, thanks for posting this originally, I posted off your post but tried to find the original post and could not. And Eclecticity, I will check out more about Koyama. Meanwhile, I've been
walking along, not quite at three
miles an hour, but hopefully not
lagging too far behind God. :)