As I walked the streets of Mumbai with a colleague, it was interesting to note that everything was slightly different because of my skin color. The most notable event occurred as we waited to cross a busy street. Traffic was steady and overwhelming. In addition to cars, SUVs and the occasional delivery truck, scooters, motorcycles, and the occasional cyclist wove their ways in and around the obstacles and slower moving objects.
We waited and waited some more for the right moment. While there were several possible openings for one, with two of us, we were looking for a bit more safety and space. With time our caution began to wear thin. As we stepped out in front of a relatively slower taxi, magically everyone seemed to get more patient. The first telltale was the frequently and length of honking horns diminished. The second telltale was the fact that everyone took the lead from the taxi and slowed down to give us space and time to cross.
As we got to safe ground, I knew my skin had helped. Nobody wants to run over a child or the ignorant.
The fact that facts are out in the open is not a good or bad thing in itself. One may presume that s/he knows the resulting view, but this experience reminded me of how often this is not the case. A psalmist observed that “God knows, all right – knows your stupidity, sees your shallowness.” (Psalm 94.11) Is it good or bad? I naturally thing bad, but it is? Reminders I leave for myself include the following.
Divinity knew and knows that we have, are, and will fail. It is not as if admitting the facts is an act of creating the fact. Failure is a statement of reality.
Divinity’s foreknowledge of our failure resulted in Divinity taken actions driven by an unconditional love for the individual. The only truth I know that follows admitting the truth is our ability to accept the actions that followed.
Our failures do factor, but not in the way one naturally thinks.
