A Blatant Regard For Others

A couple of days ago I dropped off Miss Curie for an afternoon activity. It was a pretty warm afternoon and I backed into the car park so I could get home quickly and get dinner organised as soon as Miss Curie was "signed in". I came back out to my car just a few minutes later to find another car parked directly in front of mine, completely blocking my exit. This was in an otherwise almost-empty car park.

This wasn't really a big deal. It wasn't very long before the driver of the other car came back out and drove away. My life went on pretty much as usual. However, even a few minutes delay was inconvenient. Hanging around in a car park with two small and grumpy children is no fun. I was in a quandary - should I just wait, or should I try to track down the owner of the car in case they were more than a few minutes? And I'll admit, I was more than a little peeved that in a car park with loads of other spaces close to the building, someone had had the blatant disregard for my needs to park their car in a way that totally blocked me in.

Such situations tend to get me pondering, and what came of my pondering was this. The Christian calling is about a lot more than NOT having a blatant disregard for others. It is very easy for me to feel superior to that sweet-looking older lady who drove away a few minutes later, just because I've never blocked someone else in like that (and who knows, she may, in fact, have had a really good reason). However, I have no business feeling one tiny bit superior, because I am still being passive. My first consideration in making decisions is what is best for me. I invariably choose the "path of least resistance" unless it is clearly morally wrong. This doesn't make me good, just lazy.

What if I rose to a higher standard? What if I started making decisions with a blatant regard for others? When I really meditate on the life of Christ, I'm overwhelmed by a sense of His perfection. He did so much more than JUST not do wrong - He did everything absolutely right. He always chose the "best for others" option, not the "best for me while not hurting anyone else option".

So anyway, that's what I'm working on - having a blatant regard for others. Someone let me know when I'm perfect!