Over the past few years my son Graham has developed a funny habit of calling me from the road for Sigalerts. For those of you who don’t have a service like this, it’s basically an online map of your local freeways showing horrible traffic in RED, and mild slowdowns in ORANGE, and smooth sailing in GREEN. They even spell out the start and stop points by freeway exit, and often times, the cause. It’s not that Graham thinks I can do anything about the traffic; what he wants to know is how long will he have to suffer, and will it be smooth sailing after that. Isn’t that what we all want to know when we’re facing a challenging time? How bad is this? Will it get worse? Or is this merely a blip in an otherwise lovely life.
My first official class for my MA in Theology started this week. It’s a 1-unit online class on how to do theological research—you can’t proceed with other courses until you’ve taken it. So on Wednesday I found myself on the 405 south, headed for the Concordia Bookstore. It was 11:00 a.m.. It should have been a straight, 70-mile-an-hour shot, but halfway down I found myself at a dead stop. I inched. I furrowed. I began to consider what life would be like next month when I’d begin driving down in the late afternoon twice a week for night classes. Smooth sailing seemed like a distant memory. I reached for my phone (I know, I shouldn’t have, but I did), pushed the speaker button, and speed dialed my son. “Check the Sigalert for me, wouldja? I’m at Bixby Knolls.”
Within moments he was able to report that the RED was short-lived and that I’d have an easy ride the rest of the way. Suddenly, I felt better. Despite the snail’s pace and the wall of neighboring trucks, I could relax. Enjoy the music. Not be bogged down thinking about being stuck in traffic all day long and through the next 18 months of my program. It was then I began to wonder why God couldn’t provide us with some sort of Sigalert for our journey through life. “Hard times thru spring, then a burst of new life.” “Detour unnecessary, stay the course.” “Four lane pile up; expect delays.” Wouldn’t that make it easier for us to endure hard times?
Probably. But then I thought about our basic human nature, which is pretty well hard-wired to avoid suffering. Given the choice of getting on a road that was guaranteed to have trials and pitfalls, many of us would choose not to travel down the road at all. And then where would we be? Safe, but stuck. Not out there in traffic, but not moving at all. Growth takes movement. And setbacks. And sometimes even collisions. May God grant us the peace we need to take them as they come.
Heather Choate Davis 