A Thanksgiving Suggestion: Stop at That Charming Place You've Zoomed Past for Years

November 24, 2016

Though this church is on a busy highway, stopping in the grass parking area creates a completely different experience from zooming past in a vehicle for the hundredth time.

Here's a Thanksgiving Suggestion: take a moment and stop at that charming place you've zoomed past for years on the way to some routine destination.

In my case, I've driven past this delightful rural church on the way to Kona (island of Hawaii, a.k.a. the Big Island) for four decades and never stopped once to enjoy its charms. We finally stopped the other day, and enjoyed a quiet walk around the church and a moment of respectful gratitude for the congregation that has maintained the church all these decades.

To my mind, a moment of gratitude for the work of others is a state of being much like worship; this little church beckons to all those who want a quiet moment of private worship or reverence amidst the cacophony of overscheduled daily life.

Though this church is on a busy highway, stopping in the grass parking area creates a completely different experience from zooming past in a vehicle for the hundredth time.

Walking up to the church, one's mind naturally wonders about the church's founders, how it came to be built in a dry, sparsely populated area of ranch lands. The church's proportions are satisfying, and the dark-red-brown walls with white trim is a classic Island look (dark green with white trim is another classic).

The few moments it took stop, get out of the car and contemplate the church's architectural charms, its role as a landmark and its purpose as a house of worship transformed a routine drive that has been repeated countless times into a memorable and moving experience.

The experience reminded me of the value in stopping by a charming place I've zoomed past for years or even decades. There are many such familiar, charming places that await my first visit; how about along your oft-traveled routes?


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