Watch Out for the Pedestrian

   I was walking to my car and came to an intersection. Look right, left, back farther to the right – it is a four way stop, and then I started walking across the street. A teal colored car with a red stripe and rest spots was preparing to make the corner. The driver decided that there was a great need to hurry me along and proceeded to yell – hurry up as he drove past. I don’t know, perhaps there was a great emergency or perhaps he thought he was funny (which he was not). Either way, I was crossing along on a snowy road and being hurried along by someone in a car. Needless to say, by the time I was crossed the intersection, I was just down-right irritated!

   Arriving at my own car, I started thinking about how the driver was really quite rude and if I had slipped on the wet and wintry conditions, that would have created a potentially serious hazard. I felt my irritation grow. But, after I had cleaned off my own car and given myself a few minutes to cool off, I thought about how the driver could not have known that my knee was hurting or how I was concerned with slipping. I’m not excusing this or justifying the behavior. I’m simply stating that we are often unaware of a bigger picture.
   Sometimes, we have pedestrians in front of our ideas, policies, practices, and they resist change. They hem and haw their way along (or at least we think so), while we are attempting to move forward. How tempting to roll down the window, “hurry up!” Otherwise, I will run over you with progress, change, and the newness of life. I may not be aware of their pains, fears, and aversions. They may not understand why I am attempting to move forward.
   So, be careful when crossing the street, and be mindful of the pedestrians. You may just be one of them.

The New Years Mirror

   There seem to be a great many sayings about looking backward, hind sight, and all of that. As New Years approaches, that seems to be the direction that receives a lot of attention. New Years Resolutions, ideas for what can be in the coming year becomes the focus. So, with all of that discussion, I started wondering if there were any direction of looking forward or back through life. I stumbled on a couple of verses in 2 Peter and thought that they were kind of interesting.
   2 Peter 3:2 says “I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.” To recall, to look back. It’s like looking into the year’s rear view mirror. Recall the words, think about the commands that were given. There seems to be a time and place to look back. Then I noticed that in looking back, it wasn’t just a random direction. It was a specific place to look back to, not being lost in memory but with purpose. When I look back, I can look with regrets of might have been or could have been. Or, I can look back at was set in motion for a purpose, and a good one at that.
   Now, I can’t always be looking backwards. If I do, I’m going to run into something. It would be like trying to drive forward by looking through the rearview mirror – not much help! So, we drop down to 2 Peter 3:13 and “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” Looking forward to something wonderful and new is the direction. Think of the excitement and anticipation that is built as you look forward to something wonderful! And by looking forward, you are moving towards it.
   So, I guess I get to look backwards and forwards – with purpose and anticipation.