Healthy SoFlo Issue 51 - Inca Goes Above and Beyond to Provide Safe & Healthy Foods
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HEALTHY LIFESTYLE · AUGUST 2017<br />
Maybe you’ve heard<br />
the s<strong>to</strong>ry of a good<br />
citizen who was being tailgated by a stressed-out<br />
woman on a busy street. Suddenly, the light at the<br />
intersection just in front of them turned yellow. The<br />
good citizen did the right thing by s<strong>to</strong>pping at the crosswalk – even<br />
though he could have beaten the red light by gunning it.<br />
FAITH &<br />
'ORDINARY LIFE'<br />
car while you were blowing your<br />
horn, flipping off the guy in front<br />
of you, <strong>and</strong> cursing a blue streak. Then I noticed the ‘Choose Life’<br />
license plate holder, the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ bumper sticker,<br />
the ‘Follow Me <strong>to</strong> Sunday School’ bumper sticker, <strong>and</strong> the chromeplated<br />
Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you<br />
had s<strong>to</strong>len the car.”<br />
The tailgating woman hit the roof – <strong>and</strong> her horn. She was screaming<br />
in frustration because she had missed her chance <strong>to</strong> get through<br />
the intersection. As she was still in mid-rant – alternately pounding<br />
the steering wheel <strong>and</strong> making an ugly h<strong>and</strong> gesture <strong>to</strong> the fellow in<br />
front of her – she heard a tap on her window <strong>and</strong> looked up in<strong>to</strong> the<br />
face of a very serious police officer.<br />
The officer ordered her <strong>to</strong> exit her car with h<strong>and</strong>s up. He put<br />
h<strong>and</strong>cuffs on her. He <strong>to</strong>ok her <strong>to</strong> the police station, where she was<br />
searched, fingerprinted, pho<strong>to</strong>graphed, <strong>and</strong> placed in a holding cell.<br />
After a couple of hours, a police captain approached the cell <strong>and</strong><br />
opened the door.<br />
The woman was escorted back <strong>to</strong> the booking desk where the<br />
arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said,<br />
“I’m very sorry for my mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your<br />
Ouch! Somewhere through the centuries, an idea has gained<br />
currency that says we can be Christians in the same way most<br />
people are Democrats <strong>and</strong> Republicans, Rotarians <strong>and</strong> Lions Club<br />
members. We show up for meetings, pay our dues, <strong>and</strong> wear the<br />
insignia. For the most part, however, it is acceptable <strong>to</strong> be “just like<br />
everybody else.” We’re devout Christians on Sunday, but we curse or<br />
cheat or tell racist jokes the other six <strong>and</strong> a half days of the week.<br />
We have so institutionalized the Christian faith that church<br />
membership has come <strong>to</strong> count for conversion. It isn’t just Vi<strong>to</strong><br />
Corleone of “Godfather” fame who could live as a criminal so long as<br />
he attended Mass <strong>and</strong> gave gifts <strong>to</strong> his church.<br />
If one’s faith is anything more than self-delusion, it must inform her<br />
life in all the routine <strong>and</strong> ordinary events of life. Even at traffic lights.<br />
By Rubel Shelly<br />
14 HEALTHY MAGAZINE