One of my favorite parables was told years ago by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. When he was a 9-year-old boy, young Frank took an evening walk with his uncle across a snowcovered meadow. As the two of them reached the woods at the far end of the field his uncle stopped and turned around. He pointed to his own footprints, which made a perfectly straight path through the snow. Then he pointed to Frank’s footprints, which meandered all over the field.
He knelt in the snow next to the boy and said, “Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly; from the fence, to the cattle, to the woods and back again. And see how my tracks aim directly toward where I wanted to go. There is an important lesson in this. You need to be focused on your goal if you are going to accomplish anything in life.”
As an elderly man, Frank Lloyd Wright would tell this story to anyone who would listen. He believed that this one experience had helped to shape much of his philosophy about life. “I decided right then,” he’d say, “not to miss all of the wonderful things in life that my uncle had missed.”
Frank Lloyd Wright saw in his wandering tracks what his uncle couldn’t see, that much of the beauty of this life is present in the journey itself.
By taking the path less traveled we are led to people whom we would otherwise never meet. This is how we come to experience the joys and the sorrows of the community that we live in. It’s how we shift the focus of our lives away from our own goals and our own desires, and toward those whom we are called to serve as disciples.
The gospel narrative shares the story of Jesus’ wandering journey, which is a breathtaking passage of healing, prayer, confrontation, joy, sorrow and sacrifice. Even the author of Mark’s brief gospel takes the time to carefully trace Jesus’ wandering footsteps, which lead from the Jordan River, into the wilderness, to Capernaum and out into the Galilean countryside. Eventually his footsteps lead up to Jerusalem and a hill named Golgotha.
Mark reminds us that Jesus’ mission and his ultimate destination didn’t keep him from doing ministry among those in need. The meandering path that he took brought him into contact with the very people who needed him the most: the sick, the poor, the outcast, and the broken.
Jesus took the time to encounter the brokenness of the lives around him so that he could restore them. Much of the gospel narrative turns on this. Jesus’ ministry, over and over again, centers on restoring people and raising them up so that they can once again share in their community. In this way, lepers aren’t just healed, they are cleansed so that they can go back and reclaim their place in society. Those who are social outcasts are invited in so that they can be a part of the fellowship that surrounds Jesus.
This is important for us to embrace, not just as individuals who turn to God for healing and restoration, but also as a community seeking to share God’s love for this world with others. Our community is filled with broken lives in need of healing. Whether it is addiction, abuse, prejudice, fear, lack of employment, or perhaps a struggle with illness, we are called to do exactly what Jesus did.
We are called to take those in need by the hand and raise them up so that they can be restored.
We often tend to live like Frank Lloyd Wright’s uncle, focusing only on what lies at the end of our journey. We make the promise of eternal life the sole purpose of our faith.
But Jesus reminds us that it’s not like that at all. We are invited to be like that 9-yearold boy and take a winding path so that we can engage with those who live around us. This means sharing what we have been given with those who simply can’t see God through their brokenness. It means living out God’s kingdom right here, in Cook County, so that others can come to believe what we have already seen with our own eyes. We are called to seek, and to reach out, and to lift up all who seek God’s grace, bringing restoration into their lives in response to the love that has been poured out upon us.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Tom Murray of the Lutsen and Zion Lutheran Churches.
Leave a Reply