Living in Essex and working in London, I spend about 3 hours a day travelling to and from work. Adding up all the hours I’ve spent commuting over the last 15 years, I could look at this as a massive waste of time, but another way of looking at it is that this is a big chunk of time that I’m able to do something with and more importantly, that I could be spending with God.
Here’s what my normal journey to work looks like:
- 6.00am – Alarm
- 6.05am – Another alarm
- 6.15am – Often still half asleep, run to the station. My phone sometimes insists on tracking this as a morning walk, but I am definitely running.
- 6.29am/6.40am – Get on the train. Timing is important here; if it’s the 6.29am I squeeze myself into the little space by the doors to the next carriage. No one wants a sweaty person sitting next to them.
- 7am(ish) – Run from the station to the office and restore personal hygiene by having a shower.
At each stage of my commute I have a choice about what I do with my time.
Do I, a) listen to music while I run?, or b) pray?
Do I, a) watch something on iPlayer on the train?, or b) read the Bible?
Going back to work recently after having been off for a while, I’ve really appreciated how my commute helps me to get a bit of exercise every day. It’s also reminded me what a good opportunity it is for me to spend time with God.
What I’m trying to do is pray as I run to the station in the morning. When the train gets to Stratford I stop reading my historical fiction/sorting out my fantasy football team/looking at guitar reviews, and do my daily Bible reading on WordLive for the last bit of the train journey into London.
Getting into the habit of praying and reading my Bible at those specific points of my journey to work, is definitely something that really helps me make time for God in my commute. Having something to plan for also helps; the train journey home has often been my time to prepare for leading a service or working on a talk for our youth group. One last example to finish, guess where I wrote most of this…
Image Credit: Pau Casals
