By Phil Baisley
One of my favorite places is the Greenfield Grind, a coffee shop near the intersection of Main and State streets. I call it “my office” because I spend most Tuesdays working there. Cameron and Elizabeth, and their well-trained staff, always make me feel at home.
The view from the Grind’s main entrance has been obscured lately by all the construction on North State Street. The view from the U.S. 40 side is something else altogether.
Walking the hallway past Francis + Fern Boutique and the Bradley Hall Events Office, and looking out the Main Street door, one sees something totally unexpected for 21st-century central Indiana: an American bison.
No, not a “real” bison, although you can see a herd of those magnificent creatures a little ways from Lafayette on the northwest side of the state, but a life-size replica standing tall and watching the traffic flow.
My head did a double take the first time I saw the bison. It was unexpected, shocking even.
I thought of Moses, shepherding the way he always did, and suddenly seeing a most unexpected sight at the foot of Mount Horeb: a bush that burned intensely without being consumed by the fire.
At that moment, Moses had a choice. He could ignore the bush and mind the business of his father-in-law’s sheep, or he could gaze in wonder at the unexpected and investigate further. He chose the latter.
Life often throws the unexpected at us: a flat tire, a canceled meeting, a phone call from an old friend. Most of the time, we just move on, change the tire or call AAA, rejoice in one less meeting, wait till the phone stops ringing and promise yourself you’ll call your friend when you’re not so busy.
But what if we didn’t? What if we stopped for the unexpected and wondered for a moment what God might be saying to us?
Not long ago I saw a post by an acquaintance on Twitter — something about being an atheist but wondering if Jesus could help her through a difficult period. I didn’t expect that.
Nothing I’d known of this person ever revealed either faith or the lack of it. What was she saying? What was God saying? Did it matter? After all, I was busy and could just have easily ignored it. Heck, I have 3,000 Twitter followers; I should never even have seen her tweet.
But I did, and like Moses I had to choose my response.
What would you have done? What do you do when God brings the unexpected into your life?
Moses stopped, looked and listened for God’s presence. I wrote back to my Twitter acquaintance and began offering spiritual support where God was obviously already at work.
Ah, that’s the thing about the unexpected. It’s only unexpected to us. God’s already there. God’s already working. And God waits, expectantly, for us to join the adventure.
Phil Baisley is pastor of Greenfield Friends Meeting. This weekly column is written by local clergy members. Sen comments to [email protected].
