Beyond Our Borders

      As I turned the pages of the Asheville Citizen-Times recently, a picture suddenly caught my attention. Two Alaskan Huskies were sitting in their harnesses waiting to go on a sled run in Jefferson, N.H. A second quick look told me that one of the dogs was blind. Poncho and his blind brother, Gonzo, race side by side with Gonzo getting the necessary help from time to time. Holly Ramer, who wrote the article for the Associated Press, tells us that soon after Gonzo went blind, Poncho realized that his brother would need help.

      Kennel owner Neil Beaulieu could have kept Gonzo back in a warm, safe house, but was advised by the veterinarian to let him run the trails with the others. Soon it became obvious that Poncho would become caregiver for his blind brother, Gonzo.

      It is the culture of sled dogs to keep running even if one of the dogs in the team stumbles and falls. “But one spring day Gonzo strayed to the edge of the trail and stumbled. With the team still moving forward, Poncho reached over, dug his head in the snow, and pulled his brother out by grabbing his harness with his teeth.”

      This reminds me of a similar story, not only of caring and loving, but how moving beyond comfortable boundaries is possible and even rewarding.

      Two horses shared a pasture, but one, like Gonzo in the first story, was blind. If one walked up close enough, you would be able to hear the tinkling of the bell that one of the horses wore. The belled horse stayed close to her friend, close enough so that the bell could always be heard and followed. The blind horse could have stayed in the safety of the barn every day, but this arrangement allowed him to go beyond his boundaries.

      I believe these two stories show us not only the responsibilities we have to care for one another, but how, despite our limitations, human weaknesses, and our inhibitions, we can move from our comfortable routines and explore possibilities beyond those borders.

      Just as Gonzo could have slept in a warm kennel each day, and the blind horse could have stayed in the barn, we too can sit in our pews and in houses content that we are God’s church. However, we are to be “sent” people, sent beyond our churches and homes, sent to those who may have given up on traditional church, yet have not given up on God, the unchurched and the never churched.

      Our church has embraced the “sent” mandate given to us by Jesus in John 20:21. As a result, we have embarked on making real the vision of “going beyond our borders” verbalized in the passage found in Malachi 1:5. God has given us the awesome vision of launching a new faith community within the next few months in the Asheville area. We have the assurance that we do not “go beyond our borders” alone. Our brothers and sisters go with us, and surely, there are others waiting for us to come. The God who spoke to Abraham, Moses, and the leaders of the early church is a God on the move, a God who constantly urges us to go with him. “The Lord is great beyond our borders,” so we dare not be left behind.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC February 3, 2013