BEYOND

One of daily routines five times a week is to go to a fitness center as one way to help deal with my diabetes. I don't mention it to impress, merely as a necessary backdrop for this posting.

Being there so often I end up finding myself almost like a citizen in a different world. One that isn't overly populated, but has lots of visitors. For the others like myself, who are called by the trainers as "regulars" we form a simple bond. It is an appreciation of how each of us has chosen to accept this world as part of our own.

So along the way from time to time I end up having conversations with the other regulars. It is funny, but there is something that helps lower you guard when talking to someone who shares this part of your life. We often have short conversations about life and problems that we might not otherwise have a chance to talk to with somebody else.

On this particular morning I ended up talking to a woman about my age whose mother just passed away from terminal cancer. She looked so lost and was obvious fighting to keep from breaking into tears from her sorrow. For her the exercise was in this case a form of therapy.

We talked about her mom and spirituality as well as faith and death. I think it gave her a place to express so many feelings she couldn't in other situations.

I didn't go to the gym with this expectation of course. But neither did I mind the Lord putting me there on this occasion to perhaps grant her a chance to find some relief from her sadness.

Beyond at times is a place God puts all of us when it serves his purposes. It is that place where we become involved with helping others if by no other means than a hug that will sometimes touch in a way we may never truly appreciate.

In my gym experience there were no other witnesses to our conversation even though we were surrounded by people. And no matter how it may have helped, it isn't like I personally had a chance to benefit from the moment. It was just being there, beyond my own needs in a place where it serve somebody else. That for me was enough.

I wonder at times when I see the side show that takes place in some Christian circles if everyone is truly accepting of being used by God in such ways. Can we truly go beyond our needs and problems to listen and obey a greater purpose.

Beyond it the quietness without fanfare. It is to be the instrument of God's grace without it becoming a place where we can brag or boast.

We never are required to live in this location. But being there can truly bless us as much as the other person. I pray when the Lord leads us to that place beyond our own world and thoughts we savor it as a blessing.