I live in the city.  And thoroughly enjoy it.  Not that I wouldn’t also enjoy living by the ocean (beach!) or in a suburb or near mountains, but for now, the Lord has placed me in the city.

And I live right by a major highway and hear the hum of vehicles driving by all the time.  (Only when I open a window but that’s pretty much all the time since I love fresh air and the outdoors and, yes, that constant hum of vehicles, because I know that they’re being driven by people and I love people.  All people.  Men and women, old and young, rich and poor, red and yellow, black and white, I love them all.  Along with my memory, many people say that a love for people and a joy for life are my most defining qualities.)

Literally just seconds  after publishing the previous post and enjoying that hum of traffic just outside my window, one of those drivers felt the need to lay and stay  on his or her horn, for what seemed like a minute but was probably more like twenty seconds but that’s a long time to be blowing one’s horn.

Maybe the driver in front of them did something really – to use a word very fresh in my mind thanks to that previous post – galling.  But even then  how much better it would’ve been for that driver NOT to have honked the horn for so long.  It was obviously out of anger – justified anger perhaps, but why not “let it go”?  Why not show mercy, knowing that you and I make mistakes regularly, too, and would appreciate not being called out or “punished” for every one of them, every time, so why not extend that courtesy to others?

No, far better than laying on our horn when someone wrongs us on the road – or any other part of life – is to show mercy.

Much easier said than done… but I find that this verse is a huge help in providing the perspective and patience and self-control essential to do just that:

• “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

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