Years ago, I watched a short video about a pastor learning to move at Godspeed. He was in a small community in Scotland, and the church had no office, by design. His work happened on foot, as he moved from house to house, from conversation to conversation. 

If I remember correctly, the title is a play on the idea that for Jesus, Godspeed was about three miles an hour, walking around Israel. 

I remembered that video the other day as I was thinking about having a schedule that’s a bit more relaxed these days. I tried to figure out when the video was released, when I started thinking about how the concept might connect to me. It was released in 2016, a decade ago. I saw it within a year or two.  

How had I forgotten this idea, this video?

And then I started thinking about how much my ability to think reflectively changed when the number of deaths we served shot up during the first couple years of COVID. 

And then I realized that I hadn’t forgotten to follow-up on the video, I was living it out as I moved from room to room, from page to page, from trauma to death. As I see it now, I was moving at Godspeed. 

In the middle of the stress, I felt like I had no time or attentiveness to care about people. As I look back, that’s all I was doing. 

I think I have a couple observations for us. 

First, just because we aren’t doing all the spiritual things we think we should be doing – Bible study, hours of prayer, volunteer hours – doesn’t mean we aren’t doing the things that God actually cares about. Loving a four-year-old is deeply spiritual. 

Second, being aware that there are seasons in work and worship matters. Slowing isn’t failing.