Fourteenth and Central

Fourteenth and Central

"Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things." Phil. 4:8 (KJV)

Let me explain: Central is a one way street going north and Fourteenth Street is an east-west street which intersects Central. My route was straight on Central past 14th Street. You know how you're sometimes bothered, but can't quite put your finger on it? Well, I finally got it! I always got the red light at14th and Central.

I made a game of trying to catch the green light, but no matter what I had to stop and wait at the intersection.

Even when I drove east on 14th and waited at the signal there, no traffic on Central crossed without first getting the red light.

One day when I was running a little late I had to accept that my auto could not mount up “with wings like eagles” over a train. The long, lonesome train whistle, clanging crossing gate, and flashing lights were more than inconvenient. I meditated on all the wonderful places those boxcars would pass in a day’s time.

When both the moments of meditation and the train passed, the arms lifted, and I beheld the green light less than a block away. Yes, the light was green, but not when I reached the intersection.

So-o-o, I had a secret. When some driver appeared anxious, gunning his engine and looking at me as if I were the last of the dinosaur-mobiles, I grinned. I knew 14th Street was just ahead. They must have thought they would leave me in the dust—ho, ho, ho. As I coasted in next to them, I couldn't help thinking; here we are all together at the great equalizer, 14th and Central.

Sometimes, fellow drivers looked sheepish; probably a look like mine when those I had passed drove up beside me. Do you know how humbling it is to weave through traffic, calculate speed, and leave the slow, hesitant drivers behind, only to arrive at 14th Street to wait while everyone from behind catches up with you?

Similar to that red light at 14th and Central are circumstances in life which require us to stop before continuing a course of action. Actually, a red light indicates possible danger and is meant as a protection from cross traffic.

This book is a collection of intersections which have given me pause on my journey. I make no apology of spiritual applications to even the most mundane of circumstances. We are, first and foremost, spiritual beings. My hope and prayer indeed is that these pages will provide moments in the traffic of life which lead to the foot of the cross - our salvation, our direction and our strength.

Voyager

On September 12, 2013 our newspaper headlines read, NASA: Voyager 1 probe has left the solar system. Launched in September 1977 it took 36 years to reach interstellar space. Voyager is over 18,912,600,000 km or 11 billion miles from earth. The NASA website has a continuous scroll of its progress--16 km per second.

Beyond the reach of our solar system and the Milky Way, are countless solar systems, then countless galaxies-- it is mind boggling. If reaching out into the night sky is too much, let's think about smaller ideas.

The Hadron Collider is in Switzerland 574 feet underground and 17 miles long. Its purpose is to answer questions regarding deep structure of space and time. Its job is to find the absolute smallest "thing" in the universe. On July 4, 2012 physicists claimed to have found the Higgs boson or "God particle." As a disclaimer, I know next to nothing about physics and get lost thinking of protons and neutrons. My only point here is to say we humans are only beginning to discover how far is far and how small is small in what God has created for and around us.

Hold on. If you have seen the Star Trek television series or movies, you are familiar with the phrase: going where no one has gone before, referring to the starship Enterprise. Well, we are not aboard the Enterprise, but we are traveling where we have never gone before? Check out this bit of information: the earth spins on its axis at 1040 miles per second while it orbits the sun at 18.5 miles per second and orbits around our Milky Way at 155 miles per second. Are you dizzy yet? The Milky Way, itself, is moving within its local group of galaxies at 185 miles per second. In other words we are moving into space where we have never been before. All of creation is.

It all boils down to this from Psalm 8:

O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!

Your glory is higher than the heavens...

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—

The moon and the stars you have set in place—

What are mortals that you should think of us,

Mere humans that you should care for us? ... (NLT)

Our majestic God certainly reveals himself in all of nature. We see his hand in what we know and in what we do not know. How wondrous that all of us are included in his plan. This reality is at every intersection. Stop and consider the marvelous miracles of God.