Day 2
I experienced it! Teresa brought to our attention the possibility of let-down of the second day march around Jericho. Day 2 is already showing signs of a routine, the “same ole thing!” without anything really happening..
I didn’t notice all the opportunities to buy liquor along Commercial. I didn’t notice the banks. I had no interest in houses and business facades. I thought of cutting the journey short. Four different ACC folks passed by and honked. That was pure inspiration. Inspiration is a funny thing. It can be a powerful motivation to do good . . . or to do bad!
I noticed mostly cars today, as many as yesterday. The constant flow and sound of cars sucked me into a race. “I can beat yesterdays time” took over my brain. The purpose for the walk got lost temporarily in a competitive fog. A question came to mind. “Why are you racing? Do you remember the purpose of the walk? You asked to see walls and what’s behind the walls and how to bring down the walls. Your vision is greatly reduced when you are hooked on ‘speed.” Slow down. Look down!”
I hadn’t noticed how much I was focused on up things. I deliberately started looking down and noticed trash and lots of it. Some was out in the open, but a lot was in flower beds. If you want to see the walls and what’s behind them, you must look up and look down. If you want to find God’s solutions to the pain behind walls, you must resist the urge to rush on by. Look up and look down. That’s where He is. Removing trash from the community.
Day 3
Walked later in the evening. “Raced” in spite of myself. Didn’t get started until 7pm. The late hour just drew me into race mode. Tonight I plan to start at 9pm. I’m going to force myself to go slow to make note of changes.
My take away last night was that commercial street has almost nothing for children or families. The lights, the nice cars, the businesses all speak of a standard of living that require a level of wealth. I’m wondering what children/youth think of the wealth. I’m wondering if the standard is so high that many will not be able to function at the paraded level. I wonder how many give up instead of paying the price at a certain standard of living. I’m wondering if our economy is another source of children/youth concluding “I’m not good enough.” Do you remember the dangers of that attitude? “I’ll go where I am good enough.” That’s dangerous.
Because it was dark, I saw more people on the streets and outside the bars. One item of note was a taxi cab parked at the front door of one of the bars. I heard one gentleman ask, “How much do you charge.” That said to me, “I’m going to get drunk. I will need a safe ride home.” I applaud that preparation as opposed to driving himself home. But what about the other crashes? What about the “family crash,” the “marriage crash,” the job crash” and a host of other “crashes” commonly affiliated with drunkenness?
I’m going to start tonight’s journey at 9pm after my D/Group meeting. Darkness hides a lot of things. But certain walls only come out at night. Where are the walls? What’s behind the walls? How do we bring down walls? What’s my role in bringing down the walls? Thirteen-point-five miles are behind me. Thirteen-point-five miles yet to go before Saturday’s big adventure. Pray for us.
John