If you were to ask those who know me best which of my characteristics require the most attention most would say my patience, or lack thereof. No worries, God is working on me and I’m trying to cooperate.
When the tour bus picked us up at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, our guide Moshe began to give us a glimpse of our itinerary with a few ground rules and some advice: “Don’t be so Canadian,” he said, “you Canadians are too polite. It’s important for us to stick to our time line and we don’t want to get separated.” I was a little stunned; Moshe has obviously never driven on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto or the 174 in Ottawa during rush hour. I’ve met some Canadians who are not always “too” polite . . . excuse me while I remove the plank from my eye . . .
Throughout the trip however, I noticed that I was often lagging behind the group especially when we walked the Via Dolorosa – I felt like a sardine and a salmon at the same time, squished into a tight spot and swimming upstream.
Toward the end of our trip however – well – let’s just say that I was starting to lose my patience and I was tired of being literally pushed around. At the airport in Athens, as we were called to board the plane, I was at the front of the line with Pastor B. Within seconds, we ended up somewhere in the middle. My eyes were popping; I was incredulous. Pastor B reminded me, “when in Rome...”
“That’s it!” I declared. “No one else is getting in front of me.” I meant it – sort of. My flesh was battling with my spirit. Everything in my body wanted to shove a few people but my spirit kept telling me to be patient and gentle. It’s not easy to be patient and gentle when there’s a drunken guy bobbing and weaving into everyone – no it wasn’t Pastor B!
I’ve been told I’m not always the most diplomatic person and that may be true, but deliberately being rude – as upset as I might be – doesn’t come as easily as I thought it would. Am I “too” Canadian? We all have our moments. I think the real question is: “am I too Christ like?” That I can answer without a second thought: no – not even close – but He’s working on me. There’s always Hope.
