Why Didn’t He Just Wait?

On her early morning jog, Ngozi hears a loud bang on the road and finds herself a witness to a horrific car accident. “Why didn’t he just wait!” She yells.  A driver trying to beat the red light sped up and lost control of the vehicle in his attempt to avoid a car coming from the opposite direction.

Traffic on the road slowed down tremendously as the state police and medical staff arrive at the scene. After providing her statement to the police, Ngozi sadly walks home in reflection. The sight of the driver being ejected from his vehicle and lying in a pool of blood on the side of the road disturbed her greatly. “Why didn’t he just wait”?

Ten miles back, Gerald sits in his car and is growing increasingly agitated at his lack of progress. “There is never any traffic on this road, what could have happened?”

Gerald finally gets close enough to see the cause of the gridlock. His agitation is mellowed by a kind thought for the victims of the accident. In reflection, he wonders how one man’s bad decision is able to bring thousands of cars on a major road to a halt.

…

One who understands the purpose of traffic lights respects its wisdom. He knows that its obedience guarantees order. Likewise, the wisdom of The Creator rules the universe. When this wisdom is disregarded in favor of one’s desires, gridlock, chaos and devastation is the result. This gridlock not only affects the individual but also disrupts the progress of those in his environment.

Hence a new beginning must commence with the recognition of the laws governing creation to which all creatures are subject, including man. The green, amber and red lights then shine bright throughout life enabling one discern when to forge ahead, pause for reflection, or stop and reverse course.

Upon graduating from college ten years ago, Adlai Ejike joined the design team at a premier architectural firm. He is paid well and is able to afford a nice apartment in New York city. Adlai is a frugal man with modest needs. He takes public transportation, brings his lunch to work and has little interest in the expensive nightlife of his lively city. Beyond his occasional travels, he spends little outside of his living expenses. He saves whatever money is left over every month but has no financial goal.

With each passing year, his desire for a home and financial security to shelter his young family became ever stronger until it became a goal. He no longer merely saved what was left over from every paycheck but first allocated funds toward this goal. With his goal clearly before him, he became attuned to all the opportunities surrounding him which aid the attainment of his goal much sooner than he ever imagined.

When he finally achieved the financial security he sought, he realized that the achievement in itself was not nearly as important as the habits and character developed in the struggle for the achievements pursued.

….

As in all earthly pursuits so is it with spiritual aspirations. Only when one sees his goal clearly before him does he begin to live with purpose. A man’s highest goal determines all things because all things will be seen from the perspective of this goal.

Every man knows death approaches closer with each day yet there is no increased urgency to see the highest goal of life; he attends the funeral of his neighbor but hardly imagines his day too will come.

First Look Within

Filled with bitterness, Jonathan Lewis paces back and forth outside his home. He had invested every spare change that remained from his semi-monthly paycheck in Centrusia, a company that went public two years prior. Centrusia had great ambitions of revolutionizing the healthcare industry but it was not difficult for the objective observer to see that the founder’s conceit superseded the company’s stated mission of improving the healthcare experience for patients.

Investors in search of the next great unknown company lined up to buy up shares of the company. Its share price rose from $12/share at its initial public offering to $57/share two years later. Setbacks experienced were quickly downplayed. Centrusia remained steadfast in its grand assertions even when it became clear that they could not deliver on their promise. To keep their dream alive, they manipulated tests and lied to investors about the true state of the company

Jonathan Lewis was one of these investors who believed so much in the hype that he was proud to have been one of the early investors when the stock was still at $12/share.

A recent Wall Street Journal investigative article revealing the true state of the company sent its stock price tumbling from $57/share to $7/share in just three days. After pacing back and forth for an hour, Jonathan Lewis finally found the courage to tell his wife that their $92,000 investment had been reduced to $22,000.

“They lied to me… they have known the truth for a long time but continued lying to investors. I am going to sue them.”

“Why,” his wife asks. “Are they the ones who, blinded by the excitement of gain, invested all our savings into their stock? Look, I am not angry with you but I will be if you let this experience go to waste. First look within yourself for the cause of this predicament before pointing fingers at others. Only then does the experience become meaningful to you.”

The Silent Influence of Entertainment

A couple arrives home from work one evening to find a large heap of trash in their front yard. Their initial disgust is quickly quietened by the shiny objects and artifacts spotted amidst this heap of trash. Interesting artifacts which tell a story of years past but have no value in the present time. The thrill of finding new artifacts evening after evening so consumed this couple that they no longer noticed the poisonous filth they inhaled. Their health deteriorated, their manners became coarse, their sense of beauty slackened – all this they did not realize.

The majority of today’s television entertainment is no different from this heap of trash. Its effect on the viewer is hardly noticed by him. Hardly does he observe the stifling of his nobler self or his increasingly uncouth manner of speech. In his delusion about his freedom to think or speak as he likes, he refuses to acknowledge the influence of those things he willingly exposes himself to.

Awakening a Spark

In the mid 1800s, Colonel James Anderson decided to open up his library of over 300 books to the young working boys of Allegheny, a small town in Pennsylvania. These were teenage boys who worked 8-12 hour days to support their families, boys who otherwise would not have been able to afford the books in Colonel Anderson’s library.

The impact of Colonel Anderson’s simple kindness was life changing. In the words of one of those boys:

“My dear friend, Tom Miller, one of the inner circle, lived near Colonel Anderson and introduced me to him, and in this way the windows were opened in the walls of my dungeon through which the light of knowledge streamed in. Every day’s toil and even the long hours of night service were lightened by the book which I carried about with me and read in the intervals that could be snatched from duty. And the future was made bright by the thought that when Saturday came a new volume could be obtained…. Nothing contributed so much to keep my companions and myself clear of low fellowship and bad habits as the beneficence of the good Colonel.

This boy would grow up to be Andrew Carnegie, the steel tycoon who would pay forward the good Colonel’s kindness tenfold by using his fortune to support educational institutions, the building of theaters, child welfare centers and over 2,500 libraries.

Regardless  of one’s circumstance, we all have more to give than we know.  Countless are the opportunities  offered daily to serve. A simple act of kindness rooted in love for another can awaken a spark within him through which he can light up his world.