Red Light Green Light

Red light - green light
I used to play that game as a child.
Someone shouted red light
and we all froze in place.
They shouted greeen light
and we all ran
I don't know that there were winners or losers.
We just stopped and started
and had fun doing that.

Forrest and I are playing that game in Houston this week.
A hurricane has ripped through town
leaving all manner of destruction in its wake.
Millions are without electrical power
including all the traffic lights.
We try to be courteous.
We wait our turn.
But some people don't have the hang of it yet.
They don't understand the red light-green light game
of when to stop and when to start
so there's a little chaos and anxiety
when we come to an intersection
with multiple lanes of traffic.

This afternoon coming home from church
it seemed more like the game bumper cars -
cars starting when they should be stopped
and stopping when they should be going
and the intersection full of cars
going both ways at the same time.
The front end of a hurricane is more fun than the back end.
We're getting testy now
a lot less patient
with the government,
power and cable companies,
the endless lines for gasoline, ice and groceries.

Today is Day 3 of the aftermath
It doesn't seem any better than Day 1.
It's hard for someone to have patientce -
when there's an oak treee in the living room.
when we scramble eggs on the barbecue grill for breakfast
when we cannot watch TV or use the internet
when we read by candlelight in the evening
and when clients in other parts of the country
don't understand why their demands aren't met.

God is teaching us this week in Houston
what our priorities are
who is important in our lives
how much time we have when there is no electricity
how self centered our lives are
who really is in control ultimately.

May we emerge from this storm more aware
and as open, playful and adventurous
as we were so many years ago
when we played red light - green light.