What Does It Look Like? - Considerate Inclusion (Part Quatre)

What Does It Look Like? - Considerate Inclusion (Part Quatre)

Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in one ahead. —Bill McGlashen

I WAS SO CONVICTED this week when I realized how inconsiderate I often am with others. How easily I exclude those who are s . . . l . . . o . . . w.

I’m always in a hurry. As hard as I try to slow down, I just can’t. I walk fast. I talk fast. I drive fast. I ride my bicycle fast. But I’m terribly slow when it comes to learning important lessons about patience. I have no problem with patience when it comes to things or circumstances—just people. I now realize that this is actually a form of inconsiderate exclusion. Considerate inclusion must be extended to those who think and operate at a slower rate than we do. And this is where I sometimes act like a jerk.

It started one Saturday morning—on my bicycle. Steve and I were pedaling pretty fast when we came upon five people, walking together slowly, on the path around the lake. The problem was—they took up the whole doggone lane! As our brakes locked and tires squealed, I managed to yell “On your left!” in such a rude tone that I embarrassed myself.

On Wednesday, the Lord blessed with me another opportunity to show considerate inclusion to a waitress who was slow, whose computer system was down, and who was not exactly a Winston Churchill–type communicator. I failed the test, as I mumbled through gritted teeth, “Give me the check, here’s the cash, keep the change.” I got out of the restaurant, but I can’t say I was satisfied—especially with my personal lack of considerate inclusion for this young woman who was slow.

But if nothing else, the Lord is persistent! On Sunday, Steve and I, running a bit late for church, were walking briskly in the 100-degree heat from the parking lot (me in heels). As we got to the steps, we had to slow to a crawl as we followed a homeless man, shuffling in his flip-flops, into our church foyer. As I watched the faces of our congregation and church leaders smile at the man and welcome him—dirty clothes, tangled hair, and all—I can’t tell you how blessed I was to be walking slowly behind him. Seeing the considerate inclusion of this poor soul by our well-heeled congregation made me so proud of who we are as Christians.

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. (Romans 15:5)

It took three tries and a whole week, but God finally got my attention: there is a blessing in the patience and in the considerate inclusion we extend to those who move at a slower pace. Sometimes we just need to walk behind them.