Pause For A Moment

Acts 8:14-17

Yesterday was a long day. It was an expected long day, meaning I was prepared for it to be a long day, still it felt longer than what I thought it would be. Let me clarify a little, it's not so much the day that was long as much as it was the drive home. Those of you who live in areas where traffic tops the list of things that stress you out will understand.

On my 1 1/2 hour drive home (to go less than 20 miles, by the way) I found myself becoming restless. I began to fidget in my seat, pick up my phone and quickly putting it down, changing radio stations every few (very few) minutes or so, and constantly look at my mirrors.

My restlessness became most challenging at a merge where the freeway was made more effective by re-striping the road. I have traveled that way on many occasions and at the same time of the day in similar traffic and can tell you there was absolutely no change in the travel time for the positive. As I thought about how the state and city seem to be failing us, my thoughts went to, "at least they're trying."

And to be honest, they are trying. Not only at the city/state level, but also at the federal level. I will be the first to tell you I'm not satisfied with where we are in certain areas of government responsibilities, especially infrastructure. I will also be the first to tell you the problems we face as a nation are many and I can't even begin to imagine how we can best solve our issues; except that government alone cannot do the job.

It was in this pause from my restlessness that another thought came to me, "Why can't we all find a way to work together?" Whether we are the government or the governed, public or private industries, small, medium large, lower, middle, upper, haves, have-nots, have-somes, or anywhere in-between we - no, WE - need to find a way to work together.

The next time you find yourself in a situation that's beginning to challenge you might I suggest you take a pause, maybe say a prayer, then with a new-born spirit find a way to make the situation better for not only yourself but for those around you as well.