1) Although I own a car, I wanted to save gas money and prevent wear and tear (especially helpful since City of Houston pays for employees to ride the bus for free)
2) It would help me learn the discipline of managing my time better and walking more
3) Most importantly, (and the reason I took the bus more than my year commitment) I wanted to love on and share Christ with a friend.
What I discovered is that it would take a lot more than my initial reasons to keep my commitment.
I want to tell you more about my friend a little later (let's call him Albert), but for now I'm going to share a few of the harder (and more peculiar) lessons I learned.
1) Riding the bus is humbling
The people who ride the bus come from every ethnicity, social status, religion, and economic background. You will sit with them, smell them, and sometimes accidentally fall on them (in the case of unexpected brakings or exceptionally sharp turns lol!) whether you like it or not, you will share uncomfortable moments with these strangers and in those moments you will be reminded that you are not that much different than them. Most people just want to get to their destination and not be bothered, but there are wonderful moments (usually when the crazy on the bus starts rapping or hitting a window) that you break the silence and share a short conversation with your neighbor about avoiding the crazy and then that leads to the topic of your destination and then on to life purpose and on and on. It's humbling that God uses weird moments and unexpected places to share Him with others. In fact to God there are no weird moments and no unexpected places.
2) God made the immune system one of our strongest tools
Along with riding the bus, I also work at the biggest public library in the city...which means that I wash my hands a lot. Sneezing, farting, hacking up a lung... You name it, I've been around it and touched what they've touched. In fact I got majorly sick two times- back to back shortly after taking the job and had to borrow sick time. But since then I've only had little sick days here and there. I'm around a multitude of infections, diseases, and bacterias but I'm healthier than ever! Its like my body was building up this intense shield! And on the bus there are no ways to avoid the germs-you got to hold on to something to not fall over. This isn't some dark magic that's preventing me from getting infected -Its God's design!
3) Sanity is underrated
COUNTLESS times have I encountered the crazy on the bus. Yes, that was singular....its rare that they'd come in packs... even they recognize that they can't handle each other. Seriously, if you haven't thanked God for your mental and emotional sanity today then stop right now and do it. Really. Do it.
The fact that you and I have social intelligence and that we can recognize our surroundings and adjust appropriately is a gift and a valuable skill. Our mental capacity of soaking up the meanings of direction, texture, limits, how cheese is made, etc....Its Incredible! Your ability to express healthy emotion and react to stimuli that strikes your heart....is nothing short of amazing. I can testify over and over that not all people have these skills. Thank God for your sanity today.
COUNTLESS times have I encountered the crazy on the bus. Yes, that was singular....its rare that they'd come in packs... even they recognize that they can't handle each other. Seriously, if you haven't thanked God for your mental and emotional sanity today then stop right now and do it. Really. Do it.
The fact that you and I have social intelligence and that we can recognize our surroundings and adjust appropriately is a gift and a valuable skill. Our mental capacity of soaking up the meanings of direction, texture, limits, how cheese is made, etc....Its Incredible! Your ability to express healthy emotion and react to stimuli that strikes your heart....is nothing short of amazing. I can testify over and over that not all people have these skills. Thank God for your sanity today.
4) Kindness is a currency
We live in the age of personal rights. It would be better to call them selfish rights....meaning "I deserve this because I was born...but I don't care if it trumps your rights or hurts society as a whole." I wish you could see me shaking my head right now. Therefor kindness, gentleness, humility, and self-sacrifice are rare commodities. I've been on buses multiple times when they were packed to the brim- not even standing room and then a woman and child or old woman would enter and NO ONE offered their seat. I've been on buses where all those that were sitting were men and the 5 or 6 standing were all women. Common decency is in dire supply. In Matthew 25 God says that we serve Him by showing kindness to the "least of these." Kindness is beautiful especially when you see it in action. There are beautiful moments when in freezing cold rain an Indian business man offers his seat to a young mother or when two college guys move so that the woman in the wheelchair can lock into the disabled space. On the bus, kindness is an offering.
We live in the age of personal rights. It would be better to call them selfish rights....meaning "I deserve this because I was born...but I don't care if it trumps your rights or hurts society as a whole." I wish you could see me shaking my head right now. Therefor kindness, gentleness, humility, and self-sacrifice are rare commodities. I've been on buses multiple times when they were packed to the brim- not even standing room and then a woman and child or old woman would enter and NO ONE offered their seat. I've been on buses where all those that were sitting were men and the 5 or 6 standing were all women. Common decency is in dire supply. In Matthew 25 God says that we serve Him by showing kindness to the "least of these." Kindness is beautiful especially when you see it in action. There are beautiful moments when in freezing cold rain an Indian business man offers his seat to a young mother or when two college guys move so that the woman in the wheelchair can lock into the disabled space. On the bus, kindness is an offering.
5) Jesus would have ridden the bus
I was raised to believe that Jesus didn't have a system of valuing one human being over the other. In the words of Rich Mullins "God doesn't have any taste." In God's economy we are all equal. He loves us each the same. And in the same mode of thought- he doesn't have any care for materialism. He wouldn't need a car. He wanted to be around His people....and He is designing Heaven to be with His people. Fellowship and intimacy with God is the end all be all. I think If he were still here in human form He would ride the bus. He would give up his seat to the working mom. He would calm the inner workings of the crazy's mind. He would fascinate the college kids with stories of His days with Peter, James, and John.
Lastly, I wanted to tell you about Albert- the reason I kept riding the bus.
Albert is an older Jewish man. He lives alone and leads a pretty simple life. He LOVES baseball....really ask him anything! His accent is as New Yorker as it gets. He moved to Houston many years ago and has had the same job the whole time. Albert is the type of man who doesn't make too much of himself. He just doesn't value being puffed up or wasting time on crap (my word not his). Albert is a good man.
When I started working downtown, God surprised me with Albert's friendship. He's not the type of man that you join for trivia at the local wings joint. I knew that if I had one purpose while working there that it would be to genuinely care about Albert. I knew that he wasn't the type of person that you can just spout off the gospel too and then be on your merry way. It was going to take time, building trust, investing in kindness, and sharing of myself to really be invited into Albert's life. I want Albert to know the God of the universe- who cares for his every need. Who shares his pains. Who delights in Him! I wanted to share Christ with Him- by showing Him the character of Christ. This meant taking the bus with Him. It didn't matter if the bus was dirty or weird things happened or we had to wait 20 minutes in the rain each day... what mattered was Albert seeing Jesus in action.
Since riding the bus with Albert, we have talked about God many times. We've been to a messianic Jewish meeting. We've shared burgers together. He has shyly admitted praying for a husband for me! ha ha! Its a slow process of showing Him a full picture of Christ's lover for him. My heart is to see him have a relationship with Christ. I will celebrate the day he makes that decision! Until then, I will continue to share Jesus with him with timely words, with caring actions, and a hopeful heart.
I was raised to believe that Jesus didn't have a system of valuing one human being over the other. In the words of Rich Mullins "God doesn't have any taste." In God's economy we are all equal. He loves us each the same. And in the same mode of thought- he doesn't have any care for materialism. He wouldn't need a car. He wanted to be around His people....and He is designing Heaven to be with His people. Fellowship and intimacy with God is the end all be all. I think If he were still here in human form He would ride the bus. He would give up his seat to the working mom. He would calm the inner workings of the crazy's mind. He would fascinate the college kids with stories of His days with Peter, James, and John.
Lastly, I wanted to tell you about Albert- the reason I kept riding the bus.
Albert is an older Jewish man. He lives alone and leads a pretty simple life. He LOVES baseball....really ask him anything! His accent is as New Yorker as it gets. He moved to Houston many years ago and has had the same job the whole time. Albert is the type of man who doesn't make too much of himself. He just doesn't value being puffed up or wasting time on crap (my word not his). Albert is a good man.
When I started working downtown, God surprised me with Albert's friendship. He's not the type of man that you join for trivia at the local wings joint. I knew that if I had one purpose while working there that it would be to genuinely care about Albert. I knew that he wasn't the type of person that you can just spout off the gospel too and then be on your merry way. It was going to take time, building trust, investing in kindness, and sharing of myself to really be invited into Albert's life. I want Albert to know the God of the universe- who cares for his every need. Who shares his pains. Who delights in Him! I wanted to share Christ with Him- by showing Him the character of Christ. This meant taking the bus with Him. It didn't matter if the bus was dirty or weird things happened or we had to wait 20 minutes in the rain each day... what mattered was Albert seeing Jesus in action.
Since riding the bus with Albert, we have talked about God many times. We've been to a messianic Jewish meeting. We've shared burgers together. He has shyly admitted praying for a husband for me! ha ha! Its a slow process of showing Him a full picture of Christ's lover for him. My heart is to see him have a relationship with Christ. I will celebrate the day he makes that decision! Until then, I will continue to share Jesus with him with timely words, with caring actions, and a hopeful heart.
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