Red light, green light, light of revelation

By Jenny Dendinger
Contrubuting writer

As a line of cars raced down the highway where I needed to turn, I glared in frustration at the red light in front of me. We had been sitting there for what felt like at least three normal cycles, yet our light remained unchanged.

I quickly became annoyed. I had an appointment, and if we didn’t start moving soon, I was going to be late.

I hate being late.

The heartless red light didn’t care. Something was making it glitch, and I just had to deal with it.

My aggravation continued to grow. I was stuck, and there was nothing I could do but wait.

Obviously, the first virtue to go was patience. I’d been trying to get better at holding onto her, but she’s a slippery fish with a lot of fight. Charity started to escape me as well, although I almost didn’t notice, since patience was making such a grand exit.

“COME ON! It’s our turn! This is ridiculous!” I screamed angrily, as if the light could hear me.

Clearly, a few vices had gleefully jumped into my passenger’s seat.

I stared with envy at the cars passing through their never-ending green light. It grated on my nerves that they had no idea how good they had it. The light was green when they’d arrived, each car as clueless as the next that we had been trapped on red for so long.

A soft voice

While I waited impatiently, God gently began to speak to my heart.

This situation was irritating me much more than it should have, and deep down I knew why. It felt all too parallel to my life. Everyone around me seemed to be thriving, yet I was being held hostage. No matter how much I wanted it and prayed for it to happen, my healing journey had come to a halt.

There was a traffic jam in my heart, and my hope for restoration was running on fumes.

As I sat for a moment with this revelation, tears began to well up in my eyes. I made the sign of the cross and prayed a Hail Mary. Offering up my frustration, I asked God to be with me while I waited.

A few minutes later, the light changed. Despite seeming hopeless only moments before, it turned out that I wasn’t completely stuck. I just needed to wait a little longer for my turn.

As I moved my foot off of the brake and onto the gas, a sense of peace washed over me. My anger, impatience and envy had finally disappeared. In their place, God had offered the gift of hope.

Jenny Dendinger is a blogger/columnist with the Clarion Herald’s NOLA Catholic Parenting online outreach to Catholic families (www.nolacatholicparenting.org).