a closer look at stop lights
August 16, 2002
i was riding in my friend's car today and had some time to reflect on the things that i saw. i normally don't pay attention much to my surroundings when i'm driving because i'm focused on the cars on the road - what's ahead and behind of me. but it was a very refreshing change to be driven around for once. i don't remember the last time i've been driven somewhere!
we were on the highway returning home from cookstown (it's like mad north) and i was just sort of staring off into the distance. a particular thought crossed my mind as i sat there.
what's the deal with traffic lights and stop signs? and please, don't answer me because it's an obvious answer. but have you ever thought about it? if we lived in a society without any traffic lights or stop signs, we'd never stop driving until we reached our destination. we'd just keep going, much like a highway - speeding down as fast as we possibly could so we could arrive faster. it's the whole concept of "time is money" and that's what our society thrives on - instant communication, instant food, instant everything! and the reflective live preaches a completely different message. it's about slowing down to really reflect on the daily happenings in our lives and to see what God is trying to reveal to us each and every single day. after all, isn't that what it's all about? so i was thinking about these traffic lights and stop signs. they're there to cause us to STOP momentarily, to stand or sit still and watch. we watch cars go by us until the traffic light eventually turns green and then we're off on our merry way.
the reflective life parallels this a lot if you think about it. if we don't stop in our every day life and think about what is being said and what is happening around us, everything is just a blur - like the blur of a car speeding across the road as they pass us by. we need 'traffic lights' or 'stop signs' to help us realize to just STOP and re-evaluate what's going on. perhaps it's a friend in need, or maybe a co-worker, or maybe even a stranger who simply needs a smile. who knows? but it's the soft whispers of God that gently try to get our attention, and only if we are listening for it, will we hear it and pause. and as we listen more for His gentle whisper, the better we'll be able to hear Him. i think God would want us to just stop and listen, rather than being so preoccupied with things that we have to finish or do. there's the this word that is constantly used in the book of psalm - the word "selah". if my memory serves me correctly, it means "to stop, to pause, to ponder and reflect". i think we need points in our every day where we have a moment of selah. just to be still and evaluate what God is doing around us. or maybe we need to reach a point in our lives where we are almost in a constant state of selah. where we are stopping and reflecting on everything that is going around us. and sure, that might be a little strange at first, but that's probably the like ultimate goal for us as Christ-followers. to be constantly be aware of Him. like what it says in 1 thessolonians, to pray continually (which really means to be in constant communion with the Father).
there's a lot of things that i haven't written about that has happened during the past week. but i'm tired now, so perhaps that will be in tomorrow's entry :) g'nite!
Posted by Leo Chan at August 16, 2002 1:34 AM
