Article from Epistle to the Presbyterians, December 2004
by Thomas A. Sweet
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Heidi Neumark is a Lutheran minister currently serving a church in Manhattan who for twenty years was the pastor of Transfiguration Lutheran Church in the South Bronx. She has written a book about that time and that church called Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx. It is such a good book. So honest. So real. The Reverend James Forbes of the Riverside Church in New York City commends the book this way: “Politicians have visited the South Bronx and novelists have taken detours onto its streets but Heidi Neumark stayed long enough and loved hard enough to be marked for life. This book will take your breath away.” It did mine. Between the welling up of tears it evoked in me and smiles when her thoughts and experiences evinced my own, I found myself cheering and cheering for Heidi Neumark’s “long obedience in the same direction” and for the depth of her pastoral practice and wisdom.
Heidi tells of a time when, on a church mission trip to Johns Island, she met a woman named Miss Ellie who was well into her nineties. Miss Ellie had a friend named Netta whom she had known since they were little girls. In order to get to Netta’s house, Miss Ellie had to walk for miles through fields of tall grass. Actually, Netta’s home was not that far from Miss Ellie’s place, but there was a stream that cut across the fields. One had to walk a long way to get to a place where it narrowed enough to cross. Heidi Neumark said she admired Miss Ellie who almost daily would set off to visit her friend with no worry for the snakes in the fields or the long miles. She also felt sorry for Miss Ellie, old and arthritic, having to walk all that way, pushing through thick summer heat as well as all the fauna and foliage.
Heidi felt sorry, that is, until she hit upon the perfect plan. She arranged with some men to build a simple plank bridge across the stream near Miss Ellie’s house. The bridge was built in a day. Heidi said she was so excited that she could not wait to see Miss Ellie’s reaction. So she went to Miss Ellie’s house where, Heidi said, Miss Ellie wanted to sit in her rocker that day and regale her with stories. But Heidi was impatient for Miss Ellie to see the project. Practically dragging Miss Ellie to it, Heidi fairly shouted the words to Miss Ellie: “Look! A shortcut for you to visit Netta!”
Heidi remembers that Miss Ellie’s face did not register the grateful, happy look she expected. There was no smile, no jubilation. Instead, for a long time, Miss Ellie looked puzzled. Then she shook her head and looked at Heidi as though Heidi was the one who needed pity. “Child, I don’t need a shortcut,” Miss Ellie protested. And then she told Heidi about all of the friends she kept up with on her way to visit Netta. A shortcut would cut her off from Mr. Jenkins with whom she swapped gossip, from Miss Hunter who looked forward to the quilt scraps Miss Ellie would bring by, from the raisin wine she’d taste at another place in exchange for some of her biscuits, and from the chance to look in on the “old folks” who were sick. “Child,” she said again, “you can’t take shortcuts if you want friends in this world. Shortcuts do not mix with love.”
Tom now: Shortcuts do not mix with love. Yes! Yes! We live in a world that seems so goal-oriented and destination-fixated. It is, though, and of course, the journey that is most important. It is in the midst of the journey that we give love and find love. When we are so hell-bent on getting somewhere and taking the quickest route, be it to the end of our “to do” list or the next step up the ladder or to a time when we can shed our present circumstances like a locust casing, we miss the intimations of the kingdom of heaven (God) along the way. And it is that kingdom that is the treasure of our days on earth. I cannot think of anything sadder than to live oblivious to this great wealth in our lives.
We too often try to cover over our dis-ease, discomfort, or dissatisfaction in life by changing our surroundings or our circumstances. In some few cases, that is appropriate. Mostly, though, that is the easy way out, a seeming shortcut to the harder work of growing. But in discovering and experiencing the deeper gifts of God in our lives that lead us to our full humanity, there are no shortcuts.
Oh, how I treasure this journey we are sharing as the First Presbyterian family. Thank you for the spaciousness of our time together and for the roominess of your grace in which to live and grow and learn to love. And thanks be to God!
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© First Presbyterian Church 2004