Every Day, Driving a Gauntlet

I was driving to one of the actual grocery stores here in town recently. (That means aisles, shopping carts or baskets, meat counter, bakery, refrigerator and frozen section - even Kellogg's Special K, sometimes... It's not Walmart or Winn Dixie, but "I ain't complainin'!") I don't often navigate this section of town, at least not this year, and there are a few trickier round-abouts... or rotaries... or round points, depending where you are from... In fact, I thought I'd run over a guy on a bike at one of them just a few months ago. Now, nervousness tags along each time I try and merge into the traffic fray in that place.

That morning, after successfully merging and driving up the hill amid the bikes, motorcycles, large and small vehicles as well as pedestrian and animal traffic, a Land Cruiser goes flying around me, crosses the double yellow line, weaves through thankfully minimal head on traffic, swings wide again while passing a small, blue car in front of me before finally jerking mostly back into the correct line of traffic and abruptly halting due to circulation paused by a red light enforced by a traffic cop down the road... Then, that last, little blue car passed drives right up on to the curb, goes back around the Land Cruiser on the right, sorta settles back into line while still partially resting on the curb... and they both wait for the signal to change, the police to assent and traffic to resume. At that point, the Land Cruiser, seemingly more calm, simply slips back into line behind the smaller blue compact and everyone drives down the road, more or less normally... at least until I turned off to pull into the grocery store parking lot.

It really was a pretty typical thing to see driving around in this town. People ignore the double yellow line, if there is one. Lights are suggestions and stop signs totally optional unless a policeman is standing nearby. Whoever honks first and loudest has the right of way, even if you have no idea where they are coming from when you hear the honk. I'm vividly aware that each time I climb into a vehicle, I'm risking my life and limb, as well as that of my passengers and anyone who might be on the road at the same time. The nightmare-hued possibilities display in my mind every time I venture into traffic. It is easy to have a cynical, negative attitude and my first reaction to that particular vehicular display on that day was neither kind nor gentle - neither in my mind nor with the words that  almost instinctively spurted from mouth. Thankfully, it was just me out and about in the car that day.

My initial reaction? 

"Stupid, selfish, aggressive driver!" (paraphrased...) 

Clearly the guy figured that as a very important person, his plans took precedence over all other considerations and the 3 seconds of time he might have gained through his reckless driving obviously justified the risk of life and limb - his own as well as others. I've always said that drivers in a developing country (particularly where any consequence for violating the theoretical traffic laws is totally haphazard and undoubtedly random) demonstrates man's self-centered, sinful, me-first ugliness minus the tethering influence of the Holy Spirit more vividly that just about anything else... except, perhaps, toddlers fighting.

As I'm muttering under my breath, trying to decide if I'm going to ask the Lord to forgive my well-justified-in-my-eyes verbal outburst and uncharitable thoughts, the still small voice of God snuck a word in edgewise. He asked me:  "Are you really so sure of the motivations behind such driving?" 

Why did I consider myself a righteous judge, jury and executioner?

Perhaps the two cars were actually traveling together - the first leading the second - desperate to catch up to his guide? Perhaps someone was ill and they were headed to the clinic up the road? What if they'd been commandeered as temporary ambulances and were heading for an emergency room? A whole realm of other possibilities existed... things are neither always as they appear, nor as I assume them to be.

Only the Lord is able to see, knows and is qualified to rightly judge actions as well as the intents of the heart.

That thought provoked more thinking. 

How often do I, a proclaimed Christ-follower - do something similar as I judge the actions and motivations of fellow Christians as well as others... even of God. I assume the worst instead of trusting the best? Even if I don't come right out and bluntly... or even tactfully... say so, I communicate my pronouncement of guilty via body language, facial expression, disgusted glances, heavy sighs... 

It never helps.

God encourages us to be wise as serpents yet innocent as doves. I wonder if He said that for times like this? 

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Can we successfully drive the gauntlet, 

recognizing precarious situations around us and avoiding them... 

without judging the intent or the spirituality 

of those somehow implicated or involved in those circumstances? 

How do you achieve this balance?