Traffic seems to be getting worse no matter everywhere. More vehicles of all kinds clogging up the roads, people desperately want to be at one place by a specific time, and police find it increasingly problematic to help the situation. It is easy to be critical however when you put yourself in place of a driver in Bangalore India needing to make an important meeting and all the rational thinking one might use is quickly lost in the heat of the moment.
Bangalore is not the worst location in the world however it is chaos on a good day. People needing to get somewhere quickly with no alternative to their motor vehicle all vying to see who is going to win. Police have, in general, long since given up on their efforts to make things better. Compounding problems are roads designed for traffic patterns decades old that are now way beyond adequate. Road rage is part of negotiating the maze, yet surprisingly it does not seem to be a dominant factor.
What can you do when things go bad? Should you step into the fray? Does it make a difference if the city is New York, London, San Francisco, Helsinki, or Bangalore? There are those who suggest it is one’s duty to get involved. However there are others who take a different view.
“Let angry people endure the backlash of their own anger; if you try to make it better, you’ll only make it worse.” (Proverbs 19.20)
I am going out to face yet another series of danger-runs through the traffic chaos. I may not completely understand my role however I do know that there are so many people facing hundreds if not thousands of mini-conflicts that I cannot solve all of them or even one unless God lends a hand. I often take on tasks that God has not asked me to do. You and I have a critical role to play is dispensing compassion, mercy, and acceptance; yet not of it will ever make a difference unless God is the power behind the move.
