Respect and Civility

I was thinking about what a fast-paced world we live in the other day.  The breakneck speed at which we live, coupled with the lack of civility shown as people interact with one another tends to make me pessimistic about the future.  It is easy to dwell on the negative things in life and get yourself all worked up.  Trust me, I know.  The other day, I was out and about, running an errand during lunch on a pretty busy stretch of road. I saw a number of cars coming toward me with their headlights on - a funeral procession.

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It stretched on for what seemed like a mile or more.  Just as I had been thinking about how selfish, callous, rude, and disrespectful we've become as a people, I witnessed an act that I've seen time after time that reinvigorated me.  As the procession came toward us, in a great display of etiquette, all of the other cars traveling on either side of the road, but not in the procession, pulled to the side of the road and stopped. There was even a guy on a riding lawn mower mowing his grass in his yard that stopped his mowing and sat there.  What a great display of civility, respect and genteel custom!  I needed that.

Why?  Why do we do this?  I would submit that each day we all get into this mindless routine, doing what's got to be done to pay the bills and fulfill our obligations.  Coming face to face with a funeral procession yanks us back into reality and makes us realize, if just for a moment, that life is fragile.  As much as we don't want to think about it, our mortality is not a fun thing to think about.

Seeing a hearse being followed by cars full of hurting people evokes sympathy and pulls us to STOP what we're doing and pay our respects.  We know that one day (if the Good Lord tarries), we're going to assume room temperature and be horizontal in the lead car of that procession.  We all have lost someone dear to us and so we know the pain of losing a loved one.  We want to, in a small, but meaningful way, show others our condolences.  When you think about it, it is really a nice gesture to pull over and make way.  People literally bring their lives to a complete stop to honor a complete stranger.  Every single car pulled over.  Not a single car kept going.

I began to think, what if one car kept going and didn't pull over?  Would others follow him?  Or would people do the respectful and courteous thing and pull over, regardless of what others were doing?   Sometimes, one person doing the right thing leads others to noble behavior.  I think our culture is in need of a someone who will help to unite us and lead us to do right - someone who will inspire us spiritually. The lack of such a leader doesn't absolve us of the responsibility of living nobly.  If we don't have a leader like that, we can be that leader in our homes, our churches, our communities.  Our actions can inspire others to respectful action and before long a long string of people are doing the right thing - just like the first guy that pulled his Camry over as the funeral procession passed.

Billy Graham once said, "Courage is contagious.  When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened."  

May we either be that brave man or have our spines stiffened by one!