Good Samaritan Moments

I have been reading an assigned book from our Staff pastor that is transforming my thinking. It is called the “Unhurried Life” by Alan Fadling. I have written before that I have encountered faith transition in my life 3 times where my previous understanding, my identity, my inclusiveness has been broadened to the degree that I can not go back to who I was before. I am experiencing this once again. I am changed by what I am reading, but mostly by applying the wisdom prayerfully in my life and truly and undeniably experiencing the reality of my eyes being opened.

For those who have attended one of my “sermons” in recent weeks, a recurring theme I have been sharing is that “we do not know what we do not know” when we become vulnerable to the spirit of God; that spiritual formation alters the quality of our sensitivity to every person, every scenario we encounter; that our best becomes better through being prayerfully mindful to the spirit. That it isn’t a subjective, mystical, self-deceptive placebo effect. Ministering sensitively, people respond. Tears flow. They pass it on. Mostly, my greatest joy is that some have affirmed they have themselves sought to become vulnerable to the spirit which is impacting their lives too.

Last week in an isolated rural area upon encountering an accident on snow-covered roads, I, despite having to be somewhere and running late, participated in my first “Good Samaritan” moment, driving a passenger from the damaged car to a fairly distant hospital for scheduled surgery he could not have gotten to if he awaited family from afar to arrive and transport him to the hospital. It was not the act but the journey with him that was confirming that I was there for a purpose in both our lives. I am discovering there is a “knowing” that is emerging in my attentiveness to a spirit that is becoming familiar and recognizable. It is so humbling to test the waters of listening to the still small voice and experience verification of impact upon another’s life in ways I never would have imagined if I just thought my own thoughts.

This book has changed my way of thinking. Typically, I am rushing from list to list, activity to activity, busyness to busyness each moment. I am learning about “capacity”, and it’s ying/yang relationship to being vulnerable to the spirit. There are things before me that “matter most”, but time to engage in them like for all of us tends to be scarce. I am discovering that prioritizing and refining less mattered “clutter”, allows me to increase my capacity for things that matter without adding hours to my day. I yet have lots to learn. My journey is becoming less hurried. I am now understanding that “doing” requires simultaneous “being”. It is otherwise too easy to venture along a hurried tangent that does not merge me with the direction God wishes me to follow. Even though this sounds like philosophical ramblings, there is a practical life, mine, that this applies to every day. I am striving to “be” in new ways, to be present and aware, with more Good Samaritan moments to live.

Submitted by Kerry