Recently, I was traveling across the country after purchasing a Vehicle in Santa Monica, California. I had found an incredibly good deal on a 2020 Toyota Prius Prime which made it worth the One Way flight to LAX and the Long Drive home. It also gave me hours and hours of Time (too many) to reflect and muse, some of which I will be posting to my Website. There’s no rhyme or reason behind them, other than just being bored. It’s Funny how our Minds work and how many things we think of become Life Lessons. So each of these will be just that, and have “And the Moral of the Story Is” at the end, so here goes…
Having grown up in Southern California, I was a bit familiar with LAX, which I flew into on a Friday Afternoon. I also knew the Freeway System; that you use it either late at night or early in the morning (if you want to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time)! Like I said, I arrived at LAX in the afternoon. What was I thinking? However, the Car Dealer assured me that Traffic wasn’t as bad as it used to be due to Covid 19. They said “because Tourism had dropped, more people were working from home, and a lot weren’t working at all anymore, the number of cars on the Freeways was way down.” That sounded encouraging, because…
Back in the late 70s I was a Salesman for Gordon and Smith Surfboards and had 4 of the 5 major counties in Southern CA as my territory. They were all north of San Diego County where I was living at the time. I was used to getting home early, to beat traffic, or late, to avoid it! Many a late afternoon, I would call my Mom and see if I could stop in for dinner. She still lived in the Home I grew up in during High School and was on the way home to San Diego. We would eat, talk, watch the news, and I would take off around 7-8pm, and avoid the congestion driving south.
So, because of my past experience, taking off from the Lexus Dealer (yes, they had a used Toyota there) at around 3:00pm made me a bit apprehensive. Part of me wanted to head south and visit Old Friends down in San Diego. But I was still nursing an All-Day Headache and just wanted to get on the road to Home! I had also intimated to my brother, who lives in Arizona and on my way East, that I might stop by for a visit. So Santa Monica Freeway Eastbound it was. And then the Nightmare Began!
In Los Angeles, they have Traffic Signals to let you on the Freeway. There was a line of about 10 cars, which wasn’t too bad, all waiting for their turn to get on Interstate 10. I patiently waited for my turn. No one was going anywhere fast; traffic was already at a Crawl. It was less than 60 miles to the Interstate 15 cutoff that would take me northeast; normally an hour drive. It took me over 3 hours!!! No Accident, No Roadwork, No Emergency, just…Lots…Of…Cars!
And the Moral of the Story? Paul said to the Church at Rome “we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character”. So, let’s call this Traffic “my” tribulation. Here I am, in the midst of tribulation, and what is God’s Purpose in this? That’s right, Perseverance; so I can have “proven character”! My problem though is I want the Character without the Perseverance. I don’t want Traffic in my life. I want Easy. I want Happy. I want Good. I want all these things, but not the “Others”. Those are Hard, and Sad, and Bad! But God knows what is Best for me, and because I’m His Child, He brings my way what I need, NOT what I want! That’s because He’s a Good Father and He loves me!