While living in London we quickly discovered the most efficient way to get around the city was by using the Tube. Descending into the bowels of the city, you could step onto any number of trains and be whisked through a sprawling labyrinth of tunnels only to miraculously emerge at your destination.
While riding the Tube, we loved to listen for the crisp British accent reminding us to “Mind the Gap.” A phrase developed in the 1960’s, this is a concise warning to passengers that there could be a significant distance between the train and the platform, and they are to be careful upon entering or exiting the train. London is littered with touristy paraphernalia emblazoned with this slogan.
I got to thinking. Really, I should be wearing the T-shirt as a warning to those around me. Mind the Gap, please. There is often a significant distance between where I am and where you may want me to be, or perhaps where I should be. Mind the Gap, or risk getting hurt as you tumble into the crevice.
In reality, life is this complicated journey of navigating varying depths of tunnels and tubing. We often travel with limited vision, and emerge only to find we have not arrived at the intended destination. We all live surrounded by these treacherous gaps, in danger of being isolated by them.
What if, as we travel with our fellow sojourners, we kept an eye out for these gaps? What if we searched for them, not merely to point them out and gingerly step over them, but instead, looking for the opportunity to fill them? What if we, the church, became gap dwellers; a people living in crevices?
Perhaps, the world would watch these bridge builders and take notice. Perhaps it would be captivated and drawn to the One whose outstretched arms closed the ultimate gap between sin and Holiness.
As you travel today, Mind the Gap, friend.
And let us not grow weary of doing good,
for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone,
and especially those who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:9-10
A Space for Grace 