The Sidewalk Spoke To Me

Remember in the bible when God had an ass speak to Balaam in Numbers 22? Well, He send a sidewalk to talk to me.

Lately I set on a regime to combat my weight problem, and to get myself in a more fit condition. This action is from the Lord, because whenever I have thought about exercising before, my usual response is to lay down until the urge passes. So, I've been walking every morning, and while walking I listen to some of the audio sermons that have graciously been provided by Michael Bunker at his website lazarusunbound.com.

Yesterday I used a different side of the street to walk on, meaning a different sidewalk, and a different view of things. I usually walked on the other side of the street because of all the beautiful flowers that are growing, and so I can stop to smell them as I pass by. I had no idea why I would decide to walk on the other side, the side without flowers, until later.

Listening to the Galassenheit series the previous day had made my walk pass by so quickly I'd hardly knew how far I'd walked, and when I finally took real notice I was much father along than I had thought. That's probably really why God has given me the insentive to go walking, because there's no music, or phone ringing, or computer, or door bells, or anything else to distract my attention from the message. Anyway, I was listening to the third part of the series, and wondering to myself why I didn't show more of the signs of living a life marked with Galassenheit. If you don't know what that word entails, you'd do well to listen to the series yourself, but here's the Reader's Digest version:

The Global Mennonite Encyclopedia comes the closest to having an adequate definition of the term: “Gelassenheit, self-surrender, resignation in God’s will (Gottergebenheit), yieldedness to God’s will, self-abandonment, the (passive) opening to God’s willing, including the readiness to suffer for the sake of God, also peace and calmness of mind, in Dutch devotional literature leijdzaamheid (Mennonite Quarterly Review, 1950, 22, note 17, suggests about 15 possible translations, none perfectly fitting). Only if man relinquishes his self-will may he become an instrument of God. The main Biblical locus seems to be Revelation 13:10, “Here is the patience [RSV has `endurance'] and faith of the saints,” even though Gelassenheit goes further than patience and endurance.”

The term crosses over into so many different areas of life and experience that it is almost impossible to properly define it outside of some type of context. For this reason, this series will attempt to look at Gelassenheit as a practice and not merely as a philosophy or doctrine. Hans Denck, the German Anabaptist, said, “There is no other way to blessedness than to lose one’s selfwill”. I have added this to the long definition: “as opposed to the passive act of mere humility, Gelassenheit is the active practice of living out the divine command of love”.


So, I'm thinking about Galassenheit, and listening to the sermon, and then the sidewalk spoke to me.





Now come on, I've seen people write things in cement before, but "PRIDE"? Why would you write such a word in the wet cement of a sidewalk? Would YOU even know why you were doing it when you were doing it? Would you know that God was having you write a message to a fool walking around wondering about themselves and their spiritual life? Would you know that you were answering that question, so that the intended recipient would have the answer to their question as they casually walked along? I wonder. Regardless, there it was, written in stone, set directly in my path to answer my question about myself and my spiritual walk.

Apparently I'm to work on my pride. Very generous that God sent the sidewalk to speak to me. Very generous that it was on a stone I could stand upon, a rock, and another message to me in the spiritual.

I've decided I'd best take notice so that the next piece of cement doesn't need to be aimed at my head.

May God send you a sidewalk to speak to you, or whatever it is that you need to further your walk along the perilous narrow way. Amazing grace indeed.