Traffic Jams

September 7, 2021

 Scripture

When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served”    (Matthew 20:24-28 MSG)

Traffic Jams

For the second September running, my old metric of increased traffic jams en route to office towers as evidence that summer was truly over doesn’t work. Cooler temperatures and hotter heads seem to be the new metric. We have lots of traffic jams, but they are in various forms of media competing for our attention, agreement, votes, or spending. And our tempers are short with it all.

I’m sure you are no different than I am in needing to reorient my thoughts and attitudes away from anger and irritation and toward kindness and patience. What irritates you is different from what irritates me, and we can vent on various platforms but sadly it is sometimes with our loved ones and friends.

There will be traffic jams at schools today with anxious parents delivering, sending, advocating for their kids – some more demanding and of the helicopter variety even at college and university levels.

Helicopter parents are not a new thing. Jesus had to deal with Mrs. Zebedee asking for top positions for her boys in what she was envisioning Jesus’ new power structure would be. The other disciples got wind of this, and the fur was about to fly, and tempers were frayed.

Like me, they needed to be reminded that lording it over others in a dispute isn’t the way to go. Desiring to serve and to use power for good is a challenge and requires cooler heads and kinder hearts. We have enough traffic rage in our public and private discourse – let’s be agents of peace. And I need the reminder more than anyone.

A Prayer for Today

God make us children of quietness, and heirs of peace.

(Clement. Died around 100)