“Finding God in the Traffic” by Michelle Beers

​Driving down I-240 with Top 40 radio set to a dull roar has never been my ideal time for reflection or an experience ripe with opportunities to learn how to better show love to others. I usually keep the windows rolled down, the radio up high, and my thoughts on mute—using the highway only as a necessary means to a more purposeful end. But this summer I have found myself sitting in a lot of 240 traffic—on the way to and from the office or leading groups to and from worksites—consequently with loads of time to think.

​In the midst of bobbing and weaving around tourist traffic, and trying to master the skillful art of down shifting on a manual transmission in the mountains of western North Carolina, I have found myself turning down the radio and rolling up the windows— silencing out the noise—to pray.

​I cannot express in words how terribly shocking and uncomfortable this development is for me. I don’t dislike prayer—in fact I often find being in the presence of prayer to be one of the most powerful evidences of the Holy Spirit moving through our world, but I don’t pray. I don’t pray by myself or in front of other people. In ministerial work there are times I have led prayer and prayed in groups with and in front of others, but those moments have always felt disingenuous and laden with self-conscious thoughts: “What if I forget a prayer request? Or get my words tangled? Or forget to say ‘in Jesus’ name’ at the end?”

​In those moments my focus was rarely on what I was actually saying, who I was praying for, or whatever Divine power I was appealing to. Instead, I placed my own fears and insecurities at the center of this deeply spiritual and communal act.

​What I am learning on the road as the summer continues to unfold is that God’s loving presence has no bounds. Divine love is not confined to our pre-meditated interactions with others during ministerial and mission work. No matter how detailed a service schedule, we cannot plan to encounter God’s presence. I am finding, with a stubborn mind and humbling heart, that God’s presence is waiting, everywhere, for our open hearts to meet his love in the world. Whether I choose to see that love in a new friend I meet at Hinds Feet Farm while tie-dying t-shirts, at Manna Food Bank while bagging pasta, or in the car on a busy highway in the middle of the summer heat: no matter where I am, God is also there to embrace my fears with overwhelming, and always abiding, love.