Bumper Cars

Several years ago, my sweet bride and I came up with the utterly brilliant idea of taking our kids car shopping with us. The novelty of dealership-quality popcorn and showroom cars quickly wore off, and a glorious cacophony of chaotic car buying stress soon followed. At the end of this disastrous car buying experience, we welcomed a new automobile into our little family.

And then, on a Thursday afternoon on US-441, I found myself in a reflective mood listening to some Joni Mitchell, waiting patiently for a light to turn green so the two cars in front of me could then proceed through the intersection and allow me to follow suit.

Somewhere between the clouds of Mount Dora and Joni Mitchell, a loud screeching noise gave way to a loud “Boom” sound a few yards behind me. And almost immediately after, I felt a “boom.”

You see, I became the misfortunate conductor of a multi-car mash-up set to the brilliant score of one Joni Mitchell. Time seemed to slow down. Joni continued to sing. And our car suffered some fatal damage.

I’ve often thought about that day and how I heard the sound of a car crashing and then felt the jolt of being crashed into and then desperately trying to avoid crashing into the car in front of me. And I think life often resembles that.

Some of us have experienced unbelievable pain; someone “crashed” into us and it gave us whiplash and left our soul aching.

Sometimes the impact is so severe it propels us forward and we crash into someone else, causing further pain and damage to us, them, and the fellow passengers we journey through life with.

I mean, it's hard not to isn’t it?

Stopping the endless crashing of pain and hurt and retaliation and projecting and scars can seem an impossible task. But I believe you CAN hit the brakes. In fact, I believe you can do something even better.

There is a letter in the New Testament to the Romans where the writer encourages us to “live at peace with EVERYONE.”

When we look at the world crashing around us, and down at our own gaping wounds from the demolition derby of our own experiences, such an ideal seems impossible. But the author is relentless, suggesting even such bold steps as helping meet the needs of our enemies and believing that it is possible to “not be overcome by evil,” but instead “overcome evil with good.”

What if instead of living out of your hurt, being propelled forward by the pain that has shaped you, you instead offered kindness?

What if instead of being overcome by hurt, you found it in you to forgive?

What if instead of being overcome by hate, you found it in you to love?

And what if, just maybe…the kindness and grace you showed crashed into someone else’s soul and became so overwhelming that they couldn’t help but pass that on to someone else?

Questions to think about and comment on:

1) Has someone “crashed” into you? Did you feel like retaliating?

2) After being hurt, have you ever been able to turn around and love others, showing kindness and grace?

3) Think about and comment how doing this could create more joy in your life.