I was meeting a friend at the famous Horn Restaurant between Dundee and Perth. I arrived far too early and decided to have a good walk along the single track road that opens into the Tay valley. There were two hares in the recently harvested field, swallows line dancing on telephone wires, early morning sun feeling warm but a cool breeze hinting at autumn. I know, sounds idyllic.
It was, until a car appeared from behind me, creeping silently alongside, one of those electric vehicles that glide with a gentle hum. The driver rolled down his window and I apologised – I hadn’t heard him. No problem, he was used to pedestrians in a reverie! We talked, I told him I was having a walk to counter the substantial bacon roll I would soon be having with my friend. Given the legendary size of said bacon roll he suggested I might need to walk to Perth to be calorie neutral!
In a world that rushes and pushes, and can be abrasive and impatient, a quiet morning walk could have been wasted by an annoyed driver demonstrating the effectiveness of another kind of horn! Instead, a conversation, some humour, and all was still well with the world.
My point? Consideration of other folk is a low key form of loving our neighbour. There is a cumulative quality to such small acts of kindness. They become a mosaic that builds into the life we show to others, and that God sees. Jesus described such living artistry like this: “Make sure your light shines before people, so that they will see the good things you do, and praise your Father in heaven.”
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