John, the groundskeeper at the park across the street from our house, came back from a week's vacation yesterday. So Jovi and I stopped to see him during our afternoon walk (Jovi for the treats, me for the conversation).
He told me that he and his wife had been updating their new home since October. That every weekend and every vacation he gets he is working on the house. And he misses riding his motorcycle. But a group of 20 or so guys went out on Saturday for the day. And their first stop is always to see Father Mike up in Auburn. "Every little bit helps," he said.
John isn't a super chatty guy, but he has important things to say. He reminds me of the men in my family. They are just pearls of wisdom waiting to happen. But sometimes you have to be patient and interested enough to hear them. Take my Uncle Charlie, for example. He's pretty quiet. But if you stand next to him long enough, you are bound to get a hilarious story out of him. Though it may only come out just above a whisper.
Anyway, back to John. We silently watched a few of the high school track kids run by in their shorts and t-shirts before he continued telling me about his stop for a blessing at the Catholic Church. "I don't really do the whole thing. But I have my beliefs. And like I said. Every little bit helps."
"We went to a Catholic service on Christmas Day," I said. "It was more contemporary than I remember."
"I'm the guy who goes once a year on Christmas," he said. "And you are right. It is different than the boring stuff I sat through as a kid."
"Last week we went to Bayside Church and the visiting pastor said he always thought the Bible was a boring book, but then he realized it was just that boring people had always been the ones to teach it to him," I said.
"That's the truth," John said. "One of the problems I have is that, when you go to a church and just hear one person every week, all you are getting is their version."
"Their interpretation," I agreed. We both nodded.
"And how do you know that guy has it right," John said.
"Preachers are just as human as the rest of us," I said. "They make mistakes too. I think it's important to keep an open mind when we go to church. To think, this person may have it right, and they may not, but I have to take God's Word for it."
"Take a look at all the money the churches have just in this area," he said. "There is one, up on the hill, that when it was being built they built the parking lot first. And we all thought it was going to be a drive-in movie. It was that big. But then it was this church. I don't get that."
I shrugged as another wave of track runners came by. This one long enough to put the conversation to rest. We said our goodbyes and Jovi and I finished our walk home.
There is so much that goes in to serving God. There is having impromptu conversations like this one with the people in our path. There is letting others challenge our thoughts and practices, and allowing God to challenge their thoughts and practices through us. There is considering how our words and choices are going to impact others. Weighing the benefits of a huge church facility and all the services that could then be provided, against how that looks to the community and what else that money could be spent on. And the right choice for one may not be the right choice for another. Because at the end of the day we still have to make the choice God is leading us to, regardless of the ripples.
