The Speed of Love is Three Miles an Hour

Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama, author of Three Mile an Hour God, observed that the average speed that people walk is three miles per hour. Jesus traveled on foot at three miles an hour. Jesus ministered, taught, and loved at three miles an hour. God travels at three at miles an hour. The speed of love is tender, gentle, and slow. The speed of love is three miles an hour.  

Our lives often move much faster than this. The world tells me I should be in a hurry. My email inbox pushes messages titled “Going, Going, Gone.” Parenting circles have me worrying that I am already late in signing my kids up for summer camps that begin six months from now. My to-do list grows, it seems, by the minute. Slowing the sprint of the world can seem impossible, but it is necessary for spiritual wellness and wholeness.   

In this Lenten season, we are offered an invitation to shift the way we organize our time and to adjust our speed in the world. This is a season to return to practices of prayer. It is a season to listen to our bodies as we sleep, as we eat, as we move. It is a season to ask ourselves, “what am I adding that allows me to love more?” or “what am I taking away that allows me to love more?”

This season of Lent pushes back on the false notion of temporal scarcity, reminding us that our life on earth is bounded by birth and death and also wrapped in the abundance of an eternal God who is slow and loving. Beginning tonight at 6 pm, all are invited for The Well, a service on Wednesday evenings during Lent that includes music, prayers for healing, and time for contemplation and reflection. The Well is a break from the journey of hurry, an opportunity to lower down and settle in. This is the slow and steady work of love that waits for us if we will slow down enough to see it.