by Russ Ikeda
I just concluded my fifteenth year (2013-14) with Emmaus Ministries of Silicon Valley by joining Linda on a mission to Malawi and Kenya, Africa from July 9 – 26. In preparation for this trip we decided to adopt a Pilgrim’s Creed. These statements of belief, served as a guiding document for our travels. I would like to live this creed here in Silicon Valley and share that pilgrimage with you, believing that it will prove relevant and conducive to a growing faith in Jesus.
The Creed is comprised of five vows. • I am not in a hurry. • I am not in control. • I will walk in faith. • I will greet everyone with peace. • I will receive what God gives with gratitude.
I am not in a hurry. After 62 hours of air travel of 24,000 miles over a 17-day period through several countries I recognized that I couldn’t rush. Airport security, delayed flights, crowded buses, long lines through customs and human and auto traffic “allowed me to slow down”. While traveling in Nairobi, Kenya we encountered speed bumps on every street and even on the freeways along with the occasional pedestrian daring across. I soon discovered that I couldn’t be in a hurry. Since I am not conversant in Swahili and Chechewa, the challenging language barriers slowed me down in my personal interactions and preaching. I couldn’t rush if I wanted to communicate effectively.
When we choose to not hurry we allow God to help us see things and experience his presence and work as well as be with the people around us which we could so readily miss if we were dashing around. Our encounters with individuals and with the Lord became more vivid when we were not scurrying about. Now that we have returned, seeking to not be in a hurry seems counter-intuitive and even counter-productive to the cultural experience of Silicon Valley. Yet, as we discovered in Africa, when we are not in a hurry we will notice more of people, God, and life in general, even while trying to get somewhere. Choosing to live an unhurried life may seem counter-productive but it allows us to broaden our perspective and clarify our vision as God enables us to see what we might look right past if we are in haste. Jesus was never described as one in a hurry, if he were he would have missed much of what the Father had in mind for him.
I am not in control. When I moved out of what is familiar and comfortable into what was significantly foreign, I promptly perceived that I was less control than back home. Everything was new and unprecedented so I felt vulnerable and a bit anxious. Being in control is antithetical to faith. I learned this readily while eating foods that I had not prepared nor previously consumed. As a guest, I prayed, smiled and enjoyed the meal while trusting it would be okay! I was never in the driver’s seat whether traveling by air or by automobile. Deferring to someone, often a stranger to transport me around on narrow bumpy roads for hours, and having others arrange all my meals and lodging accentuated my lack of control. My default was to practice self-control, which was only feasible in partnership with the Holy Spirit. Paradoxically, a greater sense of interior freedom surfaces when control is lessened and self-control is received.
When you are not in control, you are left to trust. This segues to the third affirmation of the creed, which is… I will walk in faith. “Faith” is a verb, (literally… “faithing”) more than a noun. It implies that when we place our trust in another person or in God himself life is an active and dynamic process where we intentionally engage our will, our emotion and mind to lean into the life Jesus is offering us. Faith is not only what we possess and claim in knowledge but what we experience in a relationship with the living, moving Christ as we step out into his work and world. A title of a book by a popular pastor captures this well – If You Want to Walk on Water You Have to Get Out of the Boat. Traveling to Africa was my experience of getting out of the boat and attempting to walk on water. What was so unfamiliar and outside my normal routine pulled me towards trust and this made me feel a bit vulnerable yet alive and attentive to what God was doing in and around me.
I will greet everyone with peace. There were occasions where we encountered nationals who sought to either sell me their wares or seek a handout. It was easy to become annoyed and avoidant but when I chose to greet them with openness and as one whom God loves, I was a better reflection of Christ. This required of me on many occasions an attitude adjustment. When I viewed any person as being made in the image of God, I was able to receive that individual and extend as best as I could, a measure of hospitality and kindness. I tried viewing each person I met with this mind…how would Jesus greet them if he were I?
I will receive whatever God gives with gratefulness and I will seek to hold it lightly. The New Testament writer James tells us “every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above…” God gifted us through his traveling mercies, connecting us with people in meaningful ways in cross-cultural context, providing opportunities to teach, train, preach with efficacy despite the language barrier and allowing us to remain relatively healthy throughout even with the challenges of malaria bearing mosquitoes, questionable water and unfamiliar food. Each gift was vividly an expression of prevenient grace, a grace that precedes human decision or human determination. It exists prior to and without reference to anything we may have done. All we can do is receive with grateful hearts and ‘unwrap’ and enjoy the gift. Yet, as any gift is received, we also must learn to hold it lightly. That is, we try not to clutch so much so that we worship the gift and not its giver. I find the words from Martin Luther of the 16th century adding further insight… I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands that I still possess.