I have made two trips recently which frustrated me but also provided some insight into our journey into Lent. The trip was round trip from Harrisburg to Kingston, PA and back. The trip north was a tough one. I love driving, but it becomes tiring for me when dealing with the elements. For the trip north, the element was fog. For the first part of the trip it was light and visibility was not bad. As I began to go up in elevation and mountains, specifically the area of Schuylkill County PA, the fog as with most weather in that area, goes from bad to worse sometimes. This was one of those times. The fog become more dense and difficult to see through. I did my best to concentrate on tail lights in front of me and the reach of my low beam headlights. I was doing pretty well. That was until people, who do not know their own capacity to drive in difficult weather, and do not know their vehicle capabilities, seemed to take bead on my vehicle. Cars which had passed me like I was standing still were now at a crawl if you can call 50MPH a crawl. In fact, if memory serves me correctly hazard flashers should be used when traveling below 40MPH. I was unaware  the law had changed to go faster than the speed limit as one person flew by me. Then there were the people travelling slower than they should on an interstate. I found myself using my cruise control to maintain my speed only to have to continually shut it off because of the spasmodic driving by those around me> People were speeding up and slowing down rather than maintaining their speed appearing to use cruise control.
Once we got through that particular county the fog cleared and, people "returned to normal."
The same thing occurred on my return trip. Same county but this time, what started as rain, became snow in that county. It was the kind of snow that "comes at you" through the windshield if you know what I mean. Again people were clearly not confident of their driving abilities for whatever reason. In fact one vehicle, a 4x4 SUV, I passed at least half a dozen times without changing my speed as they could not figure out the capabilities they had to drive in this weather and that of their vehicle. The worst part was this vehicle PASSED  me the same number of times I passed it in this snow squall and it would fade out of sight after passing. Then it would come back into view.
As Christians we sometimes are unsure of ourselves and our abilities to live out our faith. First we have to know what gifts we have. There are many spiritual gift surveys which will help you find them and use your passion to live out the Gospel. The second thing is being a part of a community of faith. Many people are struggling with the same issue of capabilities. This community of faith can encourage, teach and provide fellowship around who we are and what we are called to do.
If we don't find out what we have and how to use it, how can we ever expect to become who God has called us to be? Just llke driving a car in difficult weather, where one must trust driving skills and the capabilities of the vehicle, so too as a Christian we must learn our capabilities. We must have faith in God, the gifts God has given and the passion/drive we have to live out our calling. If we don't we end up starting, stopping, turning around and getting lost in the process. That is where a community can help. Communities of faith help us understand our gifts, find our unique calling, lift us when we fail and cheer us and praise God when the Spirit helps us succeed in our mission.
Weather can change in an instant. So when driving you need to be ready. Life is the same way. We never know when something surprises us, like an illness which causes us to slow down a little to get our bearings and move slowly in order to be sure we get where we are going.
As we travel in Lent 2012, know your capabilities, connect with a community of faith and trust in God to help you become who you are called to be.
PS- If I ever pass you on the road, just a reminder, it isn't NASCAR! Arrive alive!
Peace