This may be one of those happy coincidences, coming at
the same time U.S. bishops are meeting in St. Louis to discuss how to best respond
to Pope Francis’ emphasis on God’s grace and forgiveness. The “coincidence” was
one of those rare moments of delicious satisfaction on the road. I was driving on
an interstate spur when I noticed a car in my rear view mirror. I assumed it
was a car. It was so close, all I could see was the angry driver’s face glaring
through a windshield. So close, I assumed he was trying to read the serial
number on the inside of my tailpipe.
My definition of a dangerous driver is anyone who drives
faster than me. But tailgaters are the worst. I thought of speeding up to put a
little distance between us, but I was already doing 75 in a 50 mph zone, so
that wasn’t going to work.
A lane finally opened up as soon as we hit I-295. As
expected, the guy immediately blew by me doing at least 90 mph, showing his
disdain that I had the audacity to be on his own private highway. I mean,
really, didn’t I realize who he was?
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This is not usually a welcome sight in your
rear-view mirror – unless the trooper is chasing another driver. |
That’s when it happened.
The Florida Highway Patrol cruiser was idling on the left
shoulder. It was impossible to miss. But the driver of the speeding car, so
intent on leaving everyone in his dust, did miss the trooper until he
was almost next to him. Slamming on the brakes wasn’t going to save him. Blue
lights flashed. And I felt a flash of satisfaction. “Yes!” I thought. “He’s
getting what he deserves!”
That’s when I heard that little voice in my head. The one
that automatically kicks in every time I have such joyful, self-satisfying
thoughts of the guilty reaping their richly-deserved "rewards."
“Just like you’ll get yours.”
I can’t remember when or under what circumstance that
little voice first emerged. But it’s been there a while, an unwelcome reminder
that I’m eventually going to have to account for my actions – sometimes here
and now, but most assuredly later. We often forget this because of a glitch in
our human reasoning gene. We tend to justify our actions. “Fairness” means
getting the benefit of the doubt because we have “reasons.” Everyone else has
“excuses.”
We don’t usually like it when the other guy gets a break
instead of us. Here’s an example: Remember the story of the landowner who hired
laborers to work in his vineyard at different times throughout the day but paid
everyone the same? (Mt 20:1-16) When the guys who worked the whole shift
complained, the landowner reminded them he could be generous to anyone he chose.
The underlying message? Mind your own business because I’m free to give you
a break, too.
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We’re all held accountable according
to the Law. Christian faith in Jesus gives us hope that God’s justice will be overshadowed by His grace. |
Matthew already connected this analogy – parable – to God’s
grace and our own judgment. So instead of belaboring the obvious, here’s another
real-life “road” story. It’s about a friend on the way to his overnight shift
at work. His route took him over a long bridge that just begs drivers to speed.
Since it was dark and the bridge was deserted, he did just that – powering his
car to well above 100 mph. You can guess what happened.
The first thing the trooper asked him was “What the hell
were you thinking?” Instead of trying to justify his actions, my friend decided
to ’fess up. “I was just being stupid,” he replied.
The trooper should have written my friend a ticket. He
could have arrested him and hauled him off to jail. But, incredibly, he did
neither. Instead, the trooper let him go with an order to “quit being stupid.” It
was the FHP equivalent of “Go and sin no more.”
State troopers are law enforcers. Usually fair,
letter of the law, with an “Old Testament” philosophy. Not like God. God is not
fair, even when we push our 55 mph lives above 100 mph. Thank God for that.
