Fellow Travelers (AKA Accompaniment!)

The weather was cool and less humid today.  And my time on the 4 mile run reflected it.  And that was nice.  But what's on my mind about today's run is the people I saw while out running today.  Of course, I saw my lovely wife Audrey as she was running with me.  But I also saw a few others running, too.  Some I knew.  Others were strangers.  And there were a few walkers out today, too.  

It's not like it's the first time I've seen other people while out running.  But today, I noticed them.  Today, they didn't just feel like people I SAW.  They felt like people who were also on this journey.  For some reason, their presence gave me motivation today.  Their presence was a reminder that I wasn't the only one pounding out miles today.  I wasn't the only one trying to get stronger, faster, healthier.  I wasn't the only one on this road.

In my line of work, we have a fancy word for that: accompaniment.  It's a type of journeying that isn't mentoring or advice giving or teaching.  It's a walking alongside, sharing the burden and the joy simply by being.  Accompaniment doesn't mean fixing.  It is journeying with.  Which may not seem like much, but makes a real and powerful difference.

And that encourages me to be one who accompanies, too.  Certainly. it makes me want to keep running, so that anyone who sees me will be encouraged.  It also makes me ponder practices like social distancing, mask wearing, showing empathy and a willingness to have tough conversations about systemic racism, justice, and privilege.  I will keep on doing these things faithfully, too.  Because they are a way to serve my neighbor.  And to encourage others to be part of those practices, too.  I don't always feel a lot of power to fix the problems we face.  But I believe in the power of accompaniment.  I am convinced that I can walk a mile alongside my neighbor, reminding him or her that we're in this together.

That suddenly makes me think of a hymn we sang this past Sunday on radio worship.  Blest Be the Tie that Binds (ELW 656):

1 Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the unity of heart and mind
is like to that above.

2 Before our Father's throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.

3 We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.

4 From sorrow, toil, and pain,
and sin we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity.


So let's log a few more miles in this perilous journey, my friends.  I'll travel with you.  You travel with me.  And may God use our mutual accompaniment to make our path less burdensome because of it.


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