I'll Push You ... a journey of 500 miles, two best friends, and one wheelchair is a book that tells the story of two life-long friends, one who has no use of his limbs, who travel 500 miles together on the famous Camino de Santiago.
A non-believer who stopped to help push the wheelchair to give relief to the weary travelers who were born-again Christians, shared her brokenness with them, and asked this thought-provoking question:
"Do you think there's a difference between this kind of community and the church?"
The traveler answered: "Community like this is what Church was meant to be, what it should be, but unfortunately, it is often not what the Church is."
She then asked: "What does 'Church' mean to you?"
He answered: "Church is an existence grounded in loving God and loving others - regardless of race, creed, sexual preference, or one's history of pain, abuse, or addiction - and drawing them into the truth."
She asked: "What truth?"
He answered: "The truth is that God's love is more powerful than any darkness we can face. Jesus painted a picture of a group of individuals in community with one another, living life together, facing the problems of the world together, loving together without an agenda, and putting the needs of others above their own. For many, church has been reduced to a place to go for a couple of hours on Sunday morning, instead of being a vibrant community of people committed to living life together, committed to loving one another. But here on the Camino, I am discovering a new appreciation for a different kind of Church - the Church Jesus called us to live, not one we simply attend.”
Jesus calls us to live in relationship with one another, to live in community with one another - a community the apostle Paul describes as love.
What does that mean? Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than it does for itself. Love is not proud or boastful and does not force itself on others. Love is slow to anger and does not keep score of the sins of others. Love does not take joy in the suffering of others. Love finds pleasure in the truth.
Quite simply, this is how we are supposed to live our lives.
The result is a community where all feel welcome and safe; a place where healing can occur. The Camino is filled with people travelling a path who may be dealing with something – who are searching for a safe place to face their demons. How different would the world be if every church offered that safe place? Can we be the Church?
Oh, Father, may it be so!
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 15: 34,35).
Susan Page is the daughter of the King, His beloved child, wonderfully forgiven and blessed! Susan longs to age gracefully, becoming more like Jesus as she seeks the hidden treasures revealed to her through Scripture, literature, the arts, humankind, and nature.