Reflections from the Street

We've all done it. I know I have. I'm confident you have. You have seen others do it.

What I'm talking about is "saving time".

We'll do almost anything to save a second or two, right?

We drive a little faster (just one to two mph, and evaluate the entire time-how fast do you have to speed before you'll actually get pulled over?)

We try to pick the shortest line at the grocery store-he has only three things, surely this line will move quickly! (But then you realize that the checker is an old friend and they have years to catch up on!)

We listen to a conversation with "speed listening"-not really engaging, just getting enough gist of the conversation to respond. (Don't you wish there were speed listening classes, like those speed-reading classes?)

We live in the age of the instant. We want everything fast. And we cut corners wherever we can to save a second or two.

I've done it.

You've done it.

She did it. That is exactly the decision which was made moments before my motorcycle accident. A lady in a car coming into a tight corner decided to "save a second" and cut the corner short-drifting into my lane-and the result was the wreck.

We all do it.

We cut corners.

This woman, whoever she was (was it you?), didn't think about it that way. And neither do we. But she decided to save a second, and could have cost me all of the rest of my seconds.

And it can happen that quickly.

Where are you "cutting corners" in your life today? Where are you speeding-through your spiritual development? Where are looking to save a second in a relationship?

The reality is you might be saving a second, but at what cost to others?

Someone astutely observed that Jesus never got in a hurry. He was always where he needed to be when he needed to be there, and he was right on time. I guess if you live like that, you don't need to cut corners or save a second or two.

And when you live like that, you don't leave as many damaged lives in your wake as you pass through this life.

What corner are you cutting? What is it costing you? What is it costing others?

This is the final reflection from the street.