Detours, Construction, Street Paving, and Such – Are Good for You

Ed, my neighbor next door, always seems to sense when we are heading off to visit our family in Saskatoon. He seems to think we are free transportation to the biggest city in our province. He is always eager to go there if I’m driving. The other evening he noticed that I dug potatoes, picked Swish chard, pulled beets, and cut rhubarb. Seeing me bag the produce and put it in the van, he decided we were off to the city the next morning, and came right over to see if he could come along. Since both my wife and I were going there for our granddaughter’s birthday, Ed would be sitting in a back seat. It didn’t discourage him.

Ed is not one to consider time all that relevant as he showed up at our door at nine instead of ten a.m. He was ready and didn’t care it wasn’t ten yet. I gave Ed the keys to the van and some money and told him, that, he could go fill up the van with gas while we finished getting ready. Ed did not come back. Eventually, he did call from the gas station. He had left the keys in the ignition when he filled up with gas. He chatted with many folks getting gas. He took his time since we were not ready anyway. When he was ready to get in the van to leave the gas station, he was locked out. After a time, if the keys are left in the ignition, the van doors lock automatically. We rescued him and our van.

It was a warning that there was trouble ahead. When we got the city, the exit for Circle Drive that we always use was closed. We drove on to the next one and made our way to Circle Drive. There, we became backed up in traffic for miles, because of bridge cleaning.

We wanted to drop Ed off at his cousin’s house, but the cousin had moved to 67 Pinehurst. Ed had no idea where that was and neither did we. We forced Ed to ask for directions at a gas station. Ed returned and said that it was no problem as Pinehurst was off Warman Road. It was a problem. Ed didn’t know where Warman Road nor did we. We got directions to it finally. After more street closers, construction, and bumper to bumper traffic, we off loaded Ed at his cousins. When we complained to our family about snarled traffic and spending hours going nowhere, they said that Saskatoon is a real city, not like Melville. They also said that such bumper to bumper traffic and delays are standard and good for folks, to teach them patience. Patience is not something I’ve ever learned in any significant measure.

I have never thought of snarled traffic as teaching me patience or endurance. Certainly it could do so, but it seems easier to get frustrated than to sit patiently and wait for traffic to move. At Saskatoon, we were hemmed in, by traffic, with cars beside us, before us, behind us and had nowhere to move. I grumbled about snarled traffic, which is nothing compared to Christ, hemmed in on the cross, enduring our punishment for sin.

 

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