Canada Day. My Medicine Hat Transit pass for June has expired. I think I got my money's worth—just. I enjoyed the experience. I enjoyed not having to drive and being able to tap notes and thoughts on my iPhone as I travelled. Can't say it made my job easier, but I suspect the enforced spacing out of calendar items is better for me and would make my work richer because I would have more time to process things. I didn't get to do any off-peak travelling. That would have been even more time consuming.
The Score
I was impressed by the friendliness and courtesy of the drivers. I was also impressed by the cleanliness, noise level and comfort of the buses. Good. The thirty minute schedule is pretty convenient.
Would Jesus ride the bus?
I think he would. I don't think he cared about efficiency as we post-moderns do. News of an emergency or something like the death of Lazarus would have most of us present day clergy leaping into our cars and racing off to dispense pastoral care. Jesus waited three days when he heard about Lazarus. It wasn't because he didn't care. He seems to have known something we've forgotten about how immediacy and right now is not always the most important thing and that the passing of time can be redemptive. Spending time with people seems to be a most important thing to him. More chance of doing that on a bus than in my car.
For Us Anglicans—Does Riding Public Transport Go with The Marks of Mission?
It does. I suspect if I were to continue long enough to connect with other passengers I would find opportunities to do some Mark I proclaiming. I might also be presented with some opportunities to help some disadvantaged people in a Mark IV kind of way. Environmentally, transit riding is very much a Mark V activity.
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