Kindness and law

Couple of months ago I was pulled over by the police. One of those days – as they said. That day I was stressed over some situations at work and home and then visiting someone in the hospital. On the way to the hospital my car almost got hit by the reckless P-plater who ignored the red light, speed limit and the rules of overtaking on the very busy road. On the way home, I decided to stop at the nearby park for a walk to catch my breath. The sun set very quickly and the dark cold evening got me by surprise, so I went back to my car and as I was driving home on an empty road I noticed that the car behind me has its light flashing.  At first I thought it was an ambulance only to realise seconds later that it was the signal for me to stop. So I did. A soured-face police officer informed me that I got pulled over because I exceeded the speed limit. Then he asked me if I knew what was the speed limit at that place. It was rather remote area and I thought it was 60 km/hr. I was wrong – 50 only! I knew by then that I was in trouble. After a breath test, drug test and checking my license I asked him politely if I could get a warning instead of a ticket. I tried to explain to him that I was quite stressful due to returning from visiting someone in the hospital and I have never had a speeding ticket before. The answer was – absolutely not! I was told to always drive within the speed limit. That’s it. His last words were: The fine will be sent to your home address. Drive safely. That was the moment I actually started to feel shaky and said to myself – I am not able to drive now. I am not able to drive safely. I am too upset. Where was the police when I nearly got hit by some reckless driver? Seriously, I know the law and I don’t intend to break it. I said to myself: why couldn’t he understand my circumstances and give me another chance? I learned a hard way.

My recent experience made me reflect about Jesus and his attitude towards fulfilling the law. There are some well-known passages describing Jesus as the one who follows human and God’s law (Mark 12:17). In some other story we learn that Jesus came not to break the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5: 14-17) In the letter of St Paul to the Romans 13:1-7 we discover that the followers of Christ should follow the law of authorities because they have been established by God.

Those passages were somehow in my mind for a couple of days after my unpleasant experience on the road. I believe in many circumstances Jesus would put a person before the rules and regulations. I would expect the police officer ask me first if I was OK, since I’ve told him that I was returning from the hospital. At that time I was hoping for some compassion and understanding.  Probably I would not avoid paying the fine, but for sure kind words would never be forgotten, and would indeed helped me to calm down instead of driving under stressful situation.

On the contrary of that unpleasant experience, I still remember, a couple of years ago I was traveling interstate and took the train from the airport to Blacktown. I was chatting happily with my journey companions when was unexpectedly asked to show my train ticket by the railway inspector. As I was fishing through my bag for my Opal card – I realised it was not there. I frantically started to look for it and could not find it anywhere. The inspector asked me where was I travelling from. I explained that this was already the second train I have taken in order to get back home from the airport and I already used my card twice at that time. After a couple of minutes of fruitless searching through my belongings, perhaps the inspector saw how stressful I was. He told me to calm down and not to worry too much. He gave me a written note for the security in my destination station to let me out without any troubles and asked to be more careful next time. I would never forget these words of kindness and understanding. When I got home I searched my bag once more and the Opal card was in the usual place after all.

Harsh words just that – unpleasant memory, but kind words propel a person into positive growth. Kindness leave in people a permanent imprint which can change ones attitude and encourages to pay it forward. It certainly does it for me. And I do believe that it was the point Jesus has made when he talked about being kind, merciful and understanding in stories recorded in the Bible. Kindness is God’s grace to act with mercy and compassion. I hope to follow this direction of God’s teaching in my daily life and… of course following road safety rules.

Have a good and safe week everyone.

Sr Grace