The woman at the well in John Four, a Samaritan, finds Jesus at Jacob's old well. I'm listening to
and thinking about Ken Burn's, Civil War. I was shaped for history and the land by watching this long (maybe 12 hour) documentary many times over as a boy. I would listen to the songs, like Jacob's Ladder, and let them seep into my bones. I cried out for the men who lost lives, shed blood, on beautiful land like Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Manassas. The songs and stories of The Civil War shaped me for the careful study of history in high school and college.
Being shaped for history can be quite similar to being shaped for theology and ministry. We are a tradition-ed people, those of us who follow Jesus. We at the Tobacco Trail Church/Community, we remember that the land where we worship was once a railroad. A railroad of Tobacco. A railroad for progress. A railroad for lung cancer. A railroad for bringing crops to the big barn and the manufacturing plant. A railroad that divided black from white. A railroad that provided jobs. A railroad that transported musicians.
Blind Boy Fuller used to play his guitar in the ragtime era, that of the 1930s along this trail and in the tobacco barn like the one some of us might run near, up by the Lucky Strike Tower (on Sunday, 6/13/12 630pm). When you run to American Tobacco it is not too much to imagine Blind Boy Fuller scratchin out a tune, sliding across the top of a six string, and settin' on a wall wailin' out a song like "You Never Can Tell" or "Step It Up and Go."
Music by all accounts is a tradition handed down over time. Innovated from one hand and voice to another. Thelonius Monk, another gem born in NC, played the piano in an unorthodox and genius way. He bent the keys. Sometimes he would break from playing and just dance a bit before reclaiming his seat. He was unpredictable, but many wanted to play with him if only they could keep up. Even more wanted to listen, to dance with Brother Theolonius.
That's how it is with Jesus.
What about this land in Galilee? What are we to say about the land that Jesus traveled back to, his home, his place of encounter with the woman at the well? What are we to say of this land in Durham called the American Tobacco Trail...
The land here is mostly flat because trains do better on flat lands. Now they shouldn't be in a flood plain and they shouldn't be up on a hill unless there is no other way to go. No, railroads should find the even ground.
The ground of the American Tobacco Trail has not felt so even, predictable, calm and gently rolling as of late. Young men have attacked pedestrians and cyclists at near the 1.75 mile mark and about the 2.75 mile marker in the last month. It brings me great sadness that anyone would attack others on the American Tobacco Trail.
I feel protective of the trail, perhaps overly protective. You see, I am the shepherd of a flock, and that flock includes not only the people, but the land and in this case the trail. Why are you hurting people on the land? I cry out, why are you hurting people on the land?
What can you and I do to make our community safer, cleaner, more accessible? How do we free the users of the trail from fear? We should pray about these things.
So the Doughman fostered it's typical super fun and hilarious atmosphere. Some teams had great costumes. Others were hellbent on winning (like us). I hope we all had a great time and that Seeds benefited enormously from this very strange event which includes teams of four who eat, bike, eat, run, swim (actually a paddle in an inner-tube), eat, run, eat, run, eat and you're done. It took us something like one hour, ten minutes to do that stuff and we were fortunate enough to take less time than the other teams. Congrats to the Bull City Track Club team of David Tallon, George "Monk" Linney, Brendan Howell, and Duncan "Snawfus" Hoge. Festivities continued at Dain's Place and apparently those who were able to make it had a dandy time toasting the win and the event. We had fun and hope you did.
Brendan and I represented the remnants of our skeleton team known as the Suffern All-Stars. We were happy to admit better fitness than either of the last two years when we were lucky enough to win in 2010 and unlucky enough to lose by a hair in in 2011. We were joined by a solid cyclist in the form of Dave Tallon and the ever solid Duncan Hoge who can be seen in photo #69 crying for joy (second from right) in what was clearly the pinnacle moment of his extensive endurance career.
Thanks to all the Doughman organizers and volunteers who tirelessly organize this event and particularly Jason and Kim who provided the timing through Bull City Running Co. as this is a rather complex event with many moving pieces and no less than four splits to calculate per team. That's a lot of stress on any chip technology.
Spiritual Rebirth: The Samaritan Woman at the Well
Boys
Bruegger's Bibles, commonly referred to as B3, gathers tomorrow, Monday, May 28, 2012, 7:00am
at the Bruegger's at 1833 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd in Durham, NC. We
will be reading and discussing John's fourth chapter. You don't need to have been
before to join us tomorrow. For many of you men out there with work
conflicts, this is your chance to join and might be your last chance
for a while. It will be a great way to start your Memorial Day. First
time visitors, coffee is on me.
Jesus engages a Samaritan woman and talks of the importance of flow. You don't want to miss it.
Also, appreciating this post from Kate Kresse that locates this photo and sculpture. Nice writing.
This is very close to where we will celebrate PB&J on Sunday, May 20 at 11:30am. Does anyone know where this is in Durham? Just over the top of this hill and around the corner is where you can find the Tobacco Trail Church at Prayer, at Brunch, and Jamming on Sunday, 11:30am.
