I have a confession to make. I let someone merge onto the freeway the other day. I know it’s crazy to do considering I commute in Southern California, but the lady was in the wrong lane and had her blinker on for the longest time. The proper thing to do when someone puts their blinker on is to close the gap as quickly as possible to prevent them getting in front of you, but maybe God’s been working in my life because I had a moment of benevolence. It reminded me about how the little things make a difference in a person’s day. Before we start nominating me for sainthood or anything, I will say that it’s a sharp contrast from the time that I gave a nice little “California salute” to a guy who cut me off and then spent a tense fifteen minutes being followed and harrassed by him. I’m not exactly the picture of Christian consistency.

The whole thing got me thinking radically. What if everyone started to drive with total and complete selflessness? Would traffic come to a complete stop from all those crazies who let people in or would it flow beautifully and seamlessly in perfect order? It’s almost hard to imagine either way. I sometimes think about the kind of faith that it takes to drive down the freeway believing that all the other cars are going to stay out of your lane while you’re in it. Apparently, traffic can really make you think about matters of faith. I’m sure we’ve all had a few “come to Jesus” moments while behind the wheels of our vehicles.

You see, my faith tells me that I am supposed to live a peaceful life and I sometimes leave my peace sitting on my dresser nightstand at home. The moment I turn the key in the ignition, peace becomes the last thing that I think about. It’s not that I don’t like having peace. I love the concept of peace, but I often can’t execute it because I am seldom “peace-ready.” So, I have to ask, what makes a person “peace-ready?”

I know that Bible Study doesn’t necessarily get me there. I’ve been going for weeks now, and I wasn’t feeling peace when they brought up the last elections and assumed that I should agree with them. Prayer works, but lately God and I have been having some intimacy issues. So, I guess that could be part of the problem. Still, for me, what always seems to get me to react with peace is to remember that it isn’t about me. It’s a radical concept, I know, but in truth it does seem to have the proper desired effect and that’s kind of what short-circuited my own natural reaction when I let the lady merge in the other day.

I’ve been in the wrong lane plenty of times, and I know how hard it is to put your blinker on and hope that someone is kind and lets you in both metaphorically and literally. So, I stopped thinking about the fact that I might be thirty seconds late for work, and I started thinking that maybe this lady in the wrong lane might need a little leg up. That’s peace, and I like to think that it’s contagious.