Amish Rush Hour

Scripture

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
(Matthew 11:25-30 MSG) 

Amish Rush Hour

A few Sunday mornings ago I travelled the back country roads to London by way of Stratford to visit a dear friend in hospital.  I wasn’t going to church but as I neared the town of Linwood there were dozens of horse-drawn carriages and buggies powered by powerful standard bred horses heading toward church. They are more properly called Old Order Mennonites, but Amish looked easier in the title.  

The wheels on the carriages gleamed as the spokes spun, the horses were brushed beautifully, and the harness was oiled and clean – they had done a lot of work caring for their vehicles and animals before they made their way to church, slowly by our standards but at a good clip by theirs. 

As I sped along to my destination, I admired their choice of a life that requires a lot of pacing because the care of animals, the harnessing of buggies all take time before they can venture down the road. Their pace of life is designed to be slower than ours, not assaulted by all our sensate bombardments and they are forced to live in close community with all its attendant challenges.  

It was a Sunday, our sabbath and I reflected that caring for one another at the other’s pace, having time to think and reflect as manual labour frees our concentration to think, maybe even pray, is one way to connect with the God who often works quietly and slowly. 

A deliberate slowing of our pace of life, maybe even stopping completely can be a form of Sabbath and restoration of our relationship with our Creator of all lie’s good gifts.  

A Prayer for Today

We awoke this morning in the presence of the holy angels of God. May heaven open wide before us, above us and around us. That we may see the Christ of our love and his sunlit company in all the things of earth this day…. for Jesus’ sake