A link to my video "The Fall," a montage-onslaught of the brokenness and fallenness of humanity, first contrasted with the purity of creation, but ultimately arriving at the only answer: The Cross of Christ.
So I got pulled over for speeding. If you know me very well, you know this is not a new experience for me. It used to be quite problematic, actually. I’ve got a couple of friends who can with great pride boast of the number of times they’ve been pulled over and not gotten a ticket. Yeah…I’m not really in that club. I’m probably batting .075 there. I always get a ticket if I get pulled over. The last ticket I got was from a guy who really loved his job as a State Patroller waaaaay too much. I think he thought he was Dirty Harry. I bet if he could’ve found a valid reason to pull his revolver out on me, it would’ve made his day.
So anyway, the other day I got pulled over by a Snohomish County Sheriff. It was an honest misunderstanding of where the speed limit changes. I thought I was doing 45 in a 45 when he passed me going the other way. Turns out I was going 50 in a 35. Well, he’s standing next to my window as I’m digging out my license, proof of insurance, and registration, and his radio is right there on his hip next to me. As I’m trying to locate my insurance card the voice of the woman dispatcher comes through his radio and says, “We’ve got a kid with a gun in his mouth and he’s threatening to pull the trigger.” I froze. I’ve already played the “I’m a pastor” card in our short exchange (I gotta at least try), so he understands why I am more than distracted. I say, “I couldn’t help but overhear what she just said.” He quickly comes back with “Yeah, we get that all the time. Proof of insurance?” I didn’t buy his apathy. But I gave him the documentation he was looking for.
He went back to his car and was there for probably less than a minute before he quickly approaches, gives me back my stuff and blurts, “Slow down, sir.” He turns right around, gets in his car, turns on the lights and the siren, pulls a very swift U-turn and blazes off.
I sat there stunned. Sure, I was relieved I wasn’t getting the $116 ticket that could’ve come my way. But it was hardly elation. I couldn’t help but wonder if that situation I overheard just turned tragic. I just sat there in silence. I felt like I couldn’t move. So I did the only thing that was really mine to do. I prayed. I prayed that my worst fears were not reality. That the reason he sped off was something else, something completely harmless. I prayed for him. I prayed for that kid with the gun in his mouth. I prayed for whoever else was near him. Then I just sat there.
I felt like I myself dodged a bullet. But I wasn’t sure that it didn’t just hit someone else.
I didn’t see anything in the news about a suicide or a gun-assault that was in that time frame in Snohomish County. I don’t think my worst fears were realized. But I don’t know what went down that afternoon. I may never know. But maybe I’ll slow down a little bit. Maybe.
