“In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.'” — Luke 10:30-32
There is a highway loop that goes around San Antonio called Loop 1604. Part of the loop is carved through limestone rock. The speed limit on Loop 1604 is 70 mph, so it’s one of the fastest ways to get from one side of San Antonio to the other. I’d busily go from meeting to meeting on Loop 1604.
One day, as I was going to my next meeting, there was an accident on Loop 1604 and the traffic was at a standstill. The 70-mph speed was down to 5 mph. While impatiently waiting in traffic, I looked to my left and right and saw beautiful, large limestone structures I had never noticed before. It looked like I was driving through a miniature Grand Canyon. There were layers of rock and sediment that looked like a painting. Though I had traveled this section of the loop hundreds of times, I was too busy to notice the limestone.
If we are honest with ourselves, many of our lives are like our commutes — we are so fast-paced and busy that we never slow down to see the people around us. We don’t slow down to see our neighbors in need. Perhaps the priest and Levite in Luke 10 were too busy to care for the wounded man.
Slow down and leave margins so you can see the God-given opportunities to love that are all around you.
— Ikki Soma, Houston Rockets chaplain
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