Pace

Walking with Mary this morning. We’d reached the end of the road (literally, not metaphorically...) and turned back when the friendly farmer roared past in his filthy tractor. He stopped, reversed and opened his back window to alert us to the fact that we should be just in front of the herd of cattle he was about to move to another field. 

We should be. 

We didn’t want to risk being overtaken by bulls and cows with calves shouldering each other for space along the narrow road. We wondered just how fast we could leap over the barbed wire and into the fields should we find that in fact, we weren’t quite fast enough to avoid being overtaken by a stampeding herd.

Behind us we heard the farmer’s shouted commands, the dog’s barks, and the alarmed mooing. We picked up the pace.

What motivates my journey through life? Is it fear of being overtaken, or eagerness to arrive? Or is it a pleasant contentment with my pace and where I am at the moment?

Jesus counselled us not to worry about tomorrow. There’s enough stuff going on today. Nothing’s going to overtake us which we can’t manage. 

The threat of an approaching herd of cows never materialised. We never needed to leap the fence. 

But probably we benefited from a faster paced walk.