Porcu-pining for a Better Me
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:6 (NKJV)
The new laws regarding driving and texting (or any use of a cell phone) don’t seem to have made much of an impact. I still see people using them at red lights and stop signs. Did you know that even pulling over and making/taking a call is illegal in PA? David Winters (All God’s Creatures) shares his porcu-pining experience.
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The car in front of me refused to move. The light changed. Cars in the left-turn lane next to us drove off. We sat there. To make things worse, I could see the driver of the Prius staring down at her phone, oblivious to those behind her. I rolled down my window and bellowed, “Get a move on, lady. We don’t have all day here.” My hands, as if controlled by some otherworldly power, descended on the steering wheel, causing my horn to punctuate my comments.
Startled, the woman looked up from her phone and drove off—just as the light turned red again, trapping me for a penalty cycle at the intersection.
Immediately, shame invaded. How could I have been so childish with my “Follow me to Living Word Church” bumper sticker posted near my license plate? I could feel my face flush and my fingers grip the wheel a little tighter. When will I grow up?
The gentle Holy Spirit chased the shame away with a simple object lesson: the porcupine from a nature show I’d recently seen.
Let’s see, I thought. What do I know about porcupines? They have quills that they raise—and unleash—whenever they are afraid. Bingo! Fear is the trigger that caused me to react badly to the other driver, releasing my quills of impatience and irritation.
Did I fear being late? Not really. Although I had several errands to run, nothing urgent loomed on the calendar. Perhaps I felt the woman’s actions represented disrespect.
Whatever the reason, God made me a person, not a porcupine. My defense mechanisms need not operate without self-control. Porcupine responses don’t serve me well, making me feel immature and less Christ-like. In that moment the Spirit gave me a gentle hug inside, as if to remind me that my speech needs to be gracious.
Grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ. Ephesians 4:15
Gracious Lord, thank You for all the lessons You teach us. Please teach us how we ought to talk to each other…and stop being porcupines. AMEN.