Three Feet or So
Take a moment and stretch one arm from your side. Chances are you can reach around 3 feet (just about 1 meter) away. If you stretch your other arm out, then there’s another 3 feet or so. So between your arms and your torso, the average person takes up about 6 feet (~2 meters). There’s not a lot that we have control over in our lives, but we do have some measure of control (not complete, mind you) over what happens in that 6 ft diameter circle around us. I didn’t come up with this on my own but first heard this through Carrie Newcomer’s song “Three Feet or So.”1
After she begins in a measure of lament with “When I’m weary lost or sad // Overwhelmed or just fed up” she then moves into small actions she can take ... “I say grace for what I have // If I start by being kind // Love usually follows right behind // It nods its head and softly hums // Saying “Honey that’s the way it’s done.”
And then she moves to singing of the power of love and then the lyric with the song title...
And the things that have saved us
Are still here to save us
It’s not out there somewhere
It’s right here, it’s right hereI can’t change the whole world
But I can change the world I know
What’s within three feet or soWe are body, skin and bones
We’re all the love we’ve ever known
When I don’t know what is right
I hold it up into the Light
I hold it up into the Light
I hold it up into the Light
Three feet doesn’t seem like much but it can make a big difference.
Two mornings ago, I saw that three feet make that difference. It was one of those mornings with a light fog and bright sunlight about 30 minutes after sunrise. The sun was up but the shadows were still deep and long and there was a wonderful coolness to the air. Towards the end of our walk is one area where there’s a fairly open field but with a line of trees at the far end that obstructs the morning sun. But on a lightly foggy day...magic happens. I have experienced so much awe along this part of the path over the years. The light sneaks through the leafy branches of the trees and illuminates the fog creating lines and shapes that shift and move as the fog slowly drifts and as you walk along the path. At times the light shines brightly through the fog and other times, when the trees fully block it, the illuminated patterns disappear.
The other morning, the patterns largely disappeared as I passed this small tree.
But as I walked a short bit...
And then a bit further...
It wasn’t far - maybe 3 feet or so. At first, I kept walking but then stopped to go back and look again. I went back to the place where the sun was obscured and then walked a few feet and then walked back and then did it again. Scout was probably so confused. But wow did it change. It was only after about 3 or 4 times of this that I pulled out my camera for these photographs. It was an awe-filled moment then and still feels that way a few days later.
This three feet or so can be in the way that we share and act in the world, and it can be in what we receive from the world. It can be in the stretch of our arms but also in the steps with our feet. Like Carrie shared in the song, we can’t change the whole world, but we can change the world that we know that’s in that three feet or so.
So again, stretch out your arms...see what can change.
And here’s one of Scout’s beautiful eyes taking in the world...
Grace, Peace, Love, Hope, and Joy,
Ed
Programming Update
Our most recent Pop Culture Pastors Hour centered was the first of what will be likely be several episodes tlaking about artificial intelligence. We were thrilled to welcome Phuc Luu back with us. One hour wasn’t enough! Here’s the link.
Monday at 1pm ET, MaryAnn and I will be doing a “will it preach” on the recent film, The Sheep Detectives. Will it preach? Oh yes indeed it will!
And then on the 25th, we’ll be joined by Marlon Weems once again as we talk about America250 movies.