I've been inspired - if that is the word, maybe driven over the edge would be more accurate - to radical, subversive prophetic action by Geez magazine, Bruce Sanguine and a number of thoughts and impulses that have been tumbling around within me for a long time.

I'm going to sell my car.

Since the day I was ordained, the thing I have resented most about being in ministry is that it meant having to buy into the car market.  I resent owning a car, I resent running a car, I resent constantly burning fossil fuels, I resent paying for constant maintenance, I resent buying in to mainstream consumption, and I really resent how dependent I've become on my four wheels.

It was one thing when I lived in rural Saskatchewan and I needed a car to drive twenty clicks to the next town to buy groceries.  I used to put on 50,000 km a year with meetings in Regina, Saskatoon, Fort Qu'Appelle, and around the Presbytery.  There simply weren't any options.  I had to own and operate a vehicle.

When I moved to a more urban center (Brandon, MB), the little trips in the car seemed like nothing.  It certainly didn't cost me what it used to cost me to drive around in rural areas.  But now, I hop in the car to drive 5 minutes to work, I hop in the car to drive home for lunch, I hop in the car to drive back to work, I hop in the car to do a visit at one end of town, then back to work then to the hospital, then finally back to home.  In all of that running around I seldom use more than a tank of gas in a month (provided I don't have to drive to Winnipeg for a meeting).

I drive everywhere!  I have become what I once most despised.  I'm buying into a culture I disapprove of because it is most convenient for me (and my church).  I'm collaborating with the forces of empire. 

Indeed, I believe that empire is so complicit, there are some ways in which it is inevitable I buy in.  But there are some things I can do.  Even if they are small and mostly symbolic.

So, I've bought a back pack and an umbrella and am preparing over the summer to get rid of my car next fall.  Converting to "pedestrianism" will take some long term planning, so I'm starting by using my car for out of town trips only (as long as I'm making monthly payments and paying for insurance it is cheaper to drive than take a bus).  I'm learning the bus routes and how long it takes me to walk from one place to another. 

It means I will have to change where I shop for groceries.  I've been a Co-Op guy since I came to the prairies but now I will have to shop closer to home.  There is a local independent grocer just a couple blocks from my apartment (I live in a warehouse in the industrial park).  But it is significantly more expensive.  There is a big box grocery not much further (in fact, on my way to and from work), but I feel like I'm selling my soul to shop there.  So I will sell my soul until I sell my car.  Once I sell my car, I will be saving enough money each month to afford to pay more for my groceries at the independent grocery store.

It means my congregation will have to tolerate my being less available.  I can't do visits at opposite ends of town in the same day.  Occasionally, I will have to take cabs.  When I arrive for a visit, I won't be dressed in a tie (though I seldom wear a tie), and will be sweaty from the walk or bike ride. 

It means I will have to plan ahead.  When winter gets here, the walk will be miserable some days (though, I bet I can walk to work in less time than it takes me to shovel out my car some weeks).  Some days, I will simply have to work from home.

It means I will have no choice but to car pool to presbytery meetings (at least no one will be able to blame me for getting lost on the country roads any more).

It also means that once I get rid of the car, I will be saving about $500 a month in car payments, insurance, maintenance and fuel.  I think I will tithe that savings and increase my M&S givings.  Of course, some of that savings will have to go to bus tickets, bike maintenance, footwear and an increased cost of groceries.

So the plans begin.  By the fall, I will be ready to engage in a radical, subversive, prophetic act.