Rules to live by from the missionary couple who used to live next door, part 2

Rule #2 Never get beat by a bus

We live in a big city. A great-big, beautiful, noisy metropolis with a myriad of pedestrians, taxis, cars, and buses. If taxis and personal vehicles are the demigods of the road, city buses are the sovereign lords who rule by divine right, manifest destiny, and eminent domain.

If you travel here you know, buses assume the godlike quality of omnipresence. They're always behind you, always beside you, and always before you. Like your favorite Italian grandmother, they are all up in your business. And just when you least expect it, Bam! There they are, interrupting and intersecting your life like they own you.

Like they own you.

Our first week in Mexico City, our beloved missionary friend (who used to live next door) cautioned us with rule #2, Never get beat by a bus. It's a lesson in survival as well as life. We have all faced situations, circumstances, even people who appear as imposing or intimidating as any city bus in Mexico City. Often, it seems, we may only have a split second to assess the situation and adjust our speed so as not to get knocked over or run down.

Now depending on the circumstance and the safety of the other people sharing the road, sometimes it's best to speed up and maneuver around the imposing figure. Other times it's more prudent to change lanes to avoid disaster. And still, other times it's wisest to slow down and yield to the unwavering force.

Of course, we can argue all day long that technically we have the right of way so we don't have to move, maneuver, or yield. But life and city driving has taught me that 2-ton city buses (and Italian grandmothers for that matter) have less concern for technicalities than they do about getting their own way. In other words, we can be technically right and mostly dead all at the very same time.

Certainly, there are moments we need to confront and not back down, but other times the more prudent course of action is to maneuver gracefully or yield patiently so we can survive another day. Mind you, surviving is no small matter, it helps us gain wisdom for the next time life (or Italian grandmothers) happen.

Therefore, on the road of life may God give each of us the wisdom to size up our situations prayerfully, consider the welfare of our fellow travelers carefully, and love our lives enough to travel gracefully, so that we may never get beat by a bus.

If you missed it, you can read part 1 here.

And Part 3 here.