BWA Connect March 2011

"... whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent

or praiseworthy -- think about such things" (Philippians 4:8b).

If you have to face rush hour traffic morning and evening five days per week, how do you cope?

I remember traveling 15 years ago in a major traffic jam in Bangkok, Thailand. There were people on a bus in the next lane watching kick boxing on a television monitor suitably placed at the front of the bus. I wondered how the travelers could reduce their stress level by watching kick-boxing.

I prefer to employ other coping strategies while in the daily grind in the traffic. I listen to music. I might play a compact disc featuring Caribbean folk music by the Heritage Singers, religious music by the Dallas Baptist University Choir or the Shalom Choir from Korea, to mention a few examples. One of my favorites is a CD I secured in a souvenir shop in the Blue Mountains in Australia.

I have to do fairly extensive travels by road on some of my trips. Whether it is a pleasant journey from Sophia to Russe with the Oprenov family in Bulgaria to attend a major church celebration; or a scenic journey from Santiago to Concepción and beyond with Chilean leader Raquel Contreras and others to survey the result of their response to the February 2010 earthquake, these are experiences I cherish.

On the rare occasion during my travels, I manage to secure an hour or two in which to respond to overtures by friendly hosts I come across ever so often. Whether it is the journey with Walter Klimt to the hills overlooking Vienna, Austria, the trip with Harrison Olan'g and his son from Arusha to Ngorongoro in Tanzania, or the outing from Sydney to the Blue Mountains in Australia, how pleasant and memorable these experiences are!

It was nearly four years ago and the Epping Baptist Church was celebrating their 75th anniversary. They invited me to preach and provided me with accommodations with Peter and Kerrie Stiles and with Bob and Adrienne Batey. The journey I took to the beautiful Blue Mountains with the Stiles and the Bateys was without any traffic to write about and the time spent in the Blue Mountains was worth every minute of it. Before I left the place, I secured a Stewart Dudley Outback CD with beautiful instrumental music.

Whenever I am stuck in traffic and I listen to the Outback CD, I remember my visit to the Blue Mountains. The haunting melodies recorded to perfection help me relive pleasant moments enjoying the beauty of creation and the blessing of divine provision for all that lives. I also recall time spent basking in the joy of friendship and the blessing of Christian hospitality. Such positive memories can counter the stress experienced in myriad traffic jams.

But it is not only in the traffic on the roads that we risk being victimized by anxiety. As we traverse the heavily trafficked pathways of life, we come around bends that turn our minds to thoughts that can never inspire calm nor nurture equanimity. In those moments, how precious it is to remember the God who creates a beautiful world and cares for it and the many persons we meet on life's pathway whose friendship and hospitality provide sunlight to brighten every gloomy moment of each and every day!

Indeed, in all of life's twists and turns, "whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- [it is always good to] think about such things."