Distance
The scariness of distance is at times relative to the
smallness of the person and the bigness of their imaginings. When we first moved into our house, our two
youngest children were just three and four years old. We live on what, in my youth, would have been
called a “dead end” road. Nowadays, it
helps the real estate value to say that we live on a “cul-de-sac”; that’s much more
picturesque. When we moved in everyone with
homes along our road owned at least five acres of land, so the homes are spaced
at least 100 yards apart, a few even more than that.
We moved in on a rainy and chilly April weekend, but that
Monday was bright and sunny. I was at
work and the two oldest were at school, so my wife decided to take the two
youngest children for a walk. After
about ten minutes the children began to express concern as they could no longer
see our house when they looked back.
“How are we ever going to find our house again, Mommy?” It took some doing but she convinced them to
trust her, at least trust her enough to keep going. They walked to the circle at the end of the
road – about a half a mile, and then they turned back and headed for home. My wife chuckled as they let out exclamations
of relief and glee a short time later as our house came back into view.
Four years ago, my wife and I were in New Zealand
celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. We took a boat tour of the “Bay of
Islands”. As we rounded the last island
the boat captain faced us eastward, so we could look out at the sheer vastness
of the Pacific Ocean. The tour guide
spoke into his microphone, and said, “If you look really hard to the east you
can see – (pause; wait for it) absolutely nothing! That’s because the nearest land – the country
of Chile, is just about six thousand miles away!” It’s amazing to think that wind-powered whaling
ships from New England made multiple trips to New Zealand in the 1800’s.
Physical distance can be an obstacle, a barrier, or
motivation. Emotional distance between
hearts can also be an obstacle, a barrier, or motivation. Sometimes distance is measurable; sometimes
it is an unknowable mystery. Sometimes
distance is comforting; sometimes it leaves one inconsolable. There is a limit to the types of distances
that a human can overcome. That doesn’t
mean that such distances are inevitable; it means that we must be humble enough
to turn to the One whose very nature is nearness, is relationship, is
communion. While we all are small, not one is insignificant. He moves our hearts to turn and look His way, only to see that He is already lovingly gazing at us. He is always nearer to us
than we are to ourselves. There is no
distance between His heart and ours, even if it takes us a lifetime to realize it.
His peace <><
Deacon Dan
Photo by Ansgar Scheffold on Unsplash
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