Weaving through the morning Friday traffic in Los Angeles, I stepped back for a moment, soaked in my new Casting Crown's album. On one hand, I heard someone pouring their heart out towards God, expressing their sublime thanks and gratitude towards their Spirit being renewed and salvaged. But in front of me I saw, one guy calling another person an idiot when they were accidentally cut off. And when I turned the corner, a young woman lost all her beauty in the moment when she flipped off and mouthed the corresponding words to someone who was actually letting her pass. Did she realize that it was her who was making the wrong turn? Did that guy just stop and have two seconds of grace for the other person to pass?
Amongst the many inhuman characteristics of God is that he is "slow to anger and abounding in love." I challenge you to think about how often you actually see this on a day to day basis. These folks, and myself included as I've seen in all my relationships, are just the opposite: Anger is readily available and love comes later.
I cried for myself, and us. And I said a prayer that we would not fall into the trap of our own anger furthermore. If even for a split second in traffic, would you like to leave a mark of anger or a give a token of love?
Every morning this week, I've noticed that a spider has spun a beautiful web connecting my driver's side mirror to the door. The first day, I noticed how resilient the web was. After all that driving, it stayed intact. The second morning, it was there again. But by the time I pulled into work, it was gone, torn by the wind. This morning, I noticed it was there again - spun wider and larger, but again, no spider. I wonder if it is living in the crevices of the mirror somewhere. This little guy is up to the challenge! I've enjoyed my fellow commuter and he's taught me a lesson: If at first you don't succeed, brush yourself off and try again.
Or was that from Aaliyah?
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2 comments:
What I hate is when I'm turning left from the middle divider lane and I have to cross two lanes of traffic and someone going the opposite direction in the second lane (closest to me) *thinks* they're being nice by stopping in the middle of the road and obstructing traffic behind them so that I can turn in front of them blindly without being able to see if another car is coming on the furthest lane over.
They don't seem to realize that they are not being nice at all, but purposely setting me up to get creamed by a car that I won't see until it hits me. (This is especially true in L.A. where if a car just stops in the middle of the street, the other cars are going to whiz over to the next lane real fast and zoom by).
I've decided that the loving thing to do is to flip these people off and wait for them to get the hint and keep driving--not just becuase they're going out of their way to harm me, but becuase if they don't realize the screw-up they're doing, they're going to get someone else hurt. So I flip these people off for the safety of others and so the driver will get a clue. Call it hard love.
Oh. Ok. Hm.
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