The gateway to my client’s parking lot is controlled by a sensor reading the identification units of motorcycles and cars. For reasons unknown, especially to me, it has always recognized me as a season ticketholder, that is until recently. What was normal changed in a day. All history was forgotten and I was treated as an alien or at least a stranger, barred from entry.
As my frustration and anger boiled, a security guard offered to assist. As we replayed the process a new fact emerged. My bike’s IU unit has died. It seems as though the bike no longer knows who it is! Without being recognized, nothing works in Singapore. Tolls roads become accumulating violations, parking garages are off limits, and anything one does is potentially a violation of a rule or regulation.
As I face a gateway to a new year, I catch a reflection of my bike’s IU in the mirror.
Unless I know who and what I am, everything is potentially at risk. Doorways are blocked. Opportunities disappear. With a working IU, possibilities reappear.
If I combine my IU with the appropriate card filled with cash, I can safely park and ride. When I know who and what I am and embrace hope and dreams, anything is possible. The combination puts an interesting perspective on a Psalmist’s words; “You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path.” (Psalm 91.13)
The fact that doorways are open and I can ride legally does not mean that I am safe or that bad things will not happen. Responsibility, prudence, and caution help, but bad things happen to the innocent and the undeserving.
I have no idea what will happen when I go through this gate. I am excited to be here, ready and able to get in! The reminder that one should never assume has been refreshed. You and I have an opportunity to raise a superstructure! It is good time to be alive, reaching for more, striving with help to be better than one has ever been.
