Pastor Tim's Thoughts

Living on the Road: Keeping Time

Time blurs on the road. Not so much the hours and minutes… but the days. At times, this journey has felt relentless. Every waypoint that becomes a celebration of new faces, conversation, discovery of facts and just being connected with other folks, is soon faced with the reality that several other waypoints await our arrival, before rest at the end of the day.

Keeping time for us is complicated in the fact that we are living in two spaces of time… our present time, where it is Sunday, September 14, 2025, but also in Asbury’s time space, where it is now Saturday, May 21, 1791. Asbury’s journal entry:

Saturday, 21. I left Philadelphia for New Jersey. On the road I felt much of the spirit of prayer.

After worshipping at Historic St. George’s Church this morning, we will be leaving Philadelphia for Trenton, NJ and several other waypoints, logging another 115 miles on the car’s trip odometer (see the relentlessness?).

And so, I use many indicators to remind me of the day, both our present day and Asbury’s Day. I have our “map book/travelogue” that I spent many hours compiling, I have Asbury’s journal on my iPad, with personal annotations, and surprisingly, I have my 28-day pillbox. I am very disciplined at taking my daily medications – I have pop up reminders on my devices – and so, a glance at my pill box is a quick reminder of the day (in present time) I find myself. How do you keep track of time? Think about how Asbury may have kept track of time.

Peace,
-Pastor Tim

2 responses to “Living on the Road: Keeping Time”

  1. laurietesting Avatar
    laurietesting

    Asbury must have known where he was going— right? I know he wasn’t as strategic as you, but surely he wasn’t just wandering the country randomly looking for places to preach. Somehow, he made decisions about his route. Were there places where he was expected by a certain date? Or maybe he had the luxury of NOT keeping track of time.

    My google calendar would have been a great tool for him. I can’t imagine the chaos that my life would be without it.

    May you continue to have safe travels and sweet adventures.

    Laurie

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    1. Tim Worley Avatar
      Tim Worley

      Laurie,

      Yes, your suspicions are correct, Asbury speaks of having “appointments” – I believe the various societies and churches would request his visit, and an agenda would be created and published. In some cases, knowing that he would be in the community, folks would flood a town and he would find himself preaching to crowds of hundreds. In other cases, he records in his journal that his appointment was advertised too late, and few were present. And of course any conference held had to be advertised in advance.

      Asbury kept meticulous records, so I imagine absent Google Calendar, he had a means that worked for him.

      Thank you for the travel mercies.

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