Yesterday I was merging into a two lane stretch of highway about a mile from home. I make this merge 100's of times in a year, coming back from work or shopping.
This two lane very quickly collapses to one lane before the curve. You have to jockey for position to get over from right to left. If you are patient and polite, you accelerate slowly and simply slip into the back of the line. If you're aggressive or impatient, you hit the accelerator and try to jump out in front of a few cars before the merging lane ends. Of course, if the other lane's drivers are aggressive, THEY may accelerate to squeeze you out of the merge, forcing you to back off and slip further back in line.
The time difference to anyone involved is a few seconds at best.
Yesterday I was distracted with other thoughts and automatically looked left to judge the oncoming traffic speed before starting my entry to the two lane section. I toyed with the idea of accelerating ahead of one more car before changing lanes, but I did not. However, I smiled to see the car ahead of me do just that, and he almost got pinched out by a left-laner accelerating to close the gap and block him out.
Seconds later, we all rolled to a stop at the red light. It was then that I looked in the rear view mirror.
The guy behind me looked familiar. He was wearing a distinctive white collar with his black shirt. It was my church pastor!
I immediately blushed and quickly recounted the previous 30 seconds of my life.
In vivid color I recalled my merge in front of the oncoming car, and how I had gaged his speed before sliding left in front of him. That was ok, there had been plenty of space, so he didn't have to brake. And how about my last minute consideration to pass the car in front of me, could pastor have detected my latent aggression simmering right below the surface? Probably not. And most likely he had no idea it was even me in that car. Or did he?
Sometimes that's exactly how I replay scenes in my life when I finally think about God in my rear view mirror. Did I treat that person at work unkindly? Was I wasting too much of my spare time when I could be volunteering? Am I praying and reading scripture as diligently as I follow the news? And I do blush to think he knows of my willful "merging tactics"...
Better that I drive life like God is always beside me, not to "catch me" doing things wrong, but to help me stay strong on his path of righteousness.
"Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil." Proverbs 4:25-27
What do you believe?
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