Taking Care of “is-ness.”
 

God is in this… 

Wandering through the pit at the Dallas race, I get to talking with the daughter of a Pro Mod driver who is cutting some of her junior year college classes back in Ohio so she can be with her family and team at the track. I kid with her about my having cut entire weeks of a class when I was in college (I really disliked that Labor Relations course and the biased professor).

The crew includes her grandparents, her dad (the driver), and a couple of mechanics; a really small group compared to the other competitors in this class.

The others on the team are super busy, and she is there to help her team.  I really like Elizabeth, you can tell she is intelligent, and has the capacity to 'see' what is going on around her.  Sort of like Jesus in the midst of a crowd saying 'who touched me?' . . . sensing way more than meets the eye about the needs of others.

I see the team again in the staging lanes.  The crew is lounging on the golf cart, waiting for their time on the starting line.  There is a bustling choreography of cars, teams, and tow vehicles in the staging lanes; imagine a 12 lane wide on-ramp to the freeway with a line of cars in all 12 lanes waiting to get on.  You need to be aware of the movement of each lane…and when, as a chaplain, you can pray and not pray with a driver or crew.  Sometimes you get it right and sometimes not.  This time I get it right.  When I ask Dad, the driver, if he wants prayer, he says, “Yes.”

Since there is a bit of a circle around him with the entire crew, they bow their heads and I pray for safety and a simple request for God to touch all the members of the team.  A few minutes later the car is on the way to the line for the run.  That prayer is the only one with them that day.

The next day I am again in the staging lanes, moving from lane to lane, trying as best I can to be ready for each driver and team.  As I am walking toward the front, Elizabeth comes up from behind me to thank me for the prayer.

What I didn't know was that the day before, prior to the run when I was with them, there was tension in the team.  It's that sensing Elizabeth knew.

Women are particularly good at this . . . reading emotions and caring about the people affected by them.  Here, the 'family' was out of tune and God came through with harmony.

Something really big happens in a prayer.  It gets us away from self and to God, and when that happens harmony occurs.  He touches each team member with “is-ness.”

God is in this.

 The NHRA assigns us our motorhome space when we arrive at the track; one never knows where one will be.  Three weeks later, In Richmond, VA, they placed us 300 feet from the staging lanes and right across from the Pro-Mods.  My young friend, Elizabeth, is sitting on the team's golf cart when we pull in to set up. Our windshield is aimed directly at their trailer and pit so we get a chance to see them in action the entire weekend.

Her dad, the driver, and I talk about a variety of things that day and I mention how much I enjoyed meeting and talking with his daughter in Dallas.  I comment on Elizabeth's keen sense of observation and he concurs that she is a very special young woman who excels in everything she undertakes.

This is my first time to get to know him and I really enjoy his sense of openness and humility about his family, life and racing.  You really want a person like him to succeed.

This weekend is a good one for the team.  Dad runs a personal best time ever, just a tick off the lowest qualifier, and very close to the world record.  In eliminations he is winning every round.  What happens, though, is that there must be many hands on the car to keep up with the adjustments and fixes needed round to round.

 Repacking the parachutes is a hugely important task.  At 240 mph, chutes help straighten the car and bring it to a stop.  Because your life is on the line, you pay very close attention to this.  On Sunday, after winning each round, the car has reached the finals.  The driver doesn’t know when he will be called to run again . . .it could be as soon as an hour, maybe, and lots needs to be done.  He and his mechanics look after the engine and drive train and Elizabeth and her Grandmother pitch in too.

Seeing and knowing their dilemma to get ready, two other teams (who've lost earlier) come over and offer to help.  Of all things, they are assigned the job of carefully repacking the parachutes.  These are competitors who have lost to you and you assign them the chutes!  What's the big deal you ask?  In the last few months, two drivers have died when their chutes failed to deploy.

We observe a humble driver, a Spartan crew, a family in their teens to sixties, and competitors who know what it takes, all pitch in to help.  Here is the team, not whining, but stepping out in faith and believing that they can win.  They know that the odds are not in their favor against the much larger and better funded teams.  In faith, even with such a small team, somehow, they will figure out how to get it done.  And then, former competitors suddenly become team members and, of all things, pack the chutes.  I watch in amazement as all of this unfolds.  The harmony in Dallas inside the team, is now stretched to Richmond and to others outside the team.  “Is-ness.”

God is in this.

Luke makes a keen observation in his gospel, ". . . the kingdom of God is in the midst of you," (17:21.)

God as a gentleman; He waits for our invitation to Him to enter into our circumstances.  When we invite Him in, He orients everything in our circumstances to harmonize with His nature.  Our prayer is that invitation to God.  His answer is His perfect will, health, successful relationships, financial supply, and most importantly . . . peace in our hearts. 

Lord God, we acknowledge You in our midst, please help us let go of our own agendas and to discover and enjoy Your “is-ness.”

God is in this.

Dave Fankhauser