Tempers Were Boiling

Tempers Were Boiling

Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Mark Cirino

It was hot, humid, and dusty. Tempers were boiling and about to explode. I felt like I was in a pressure cooker. This was an experience my wife Kelly and I found ourselves in when we decided to take the local train. We were in Athens, Greece back in the summer of 1985. We went slightly off the beaten (tourist) path and found a local train to take us further down the road. Apparently, so did some other tourists. There was even a tourist family - dad and mom with a couple of small children.

As we were squeezing onto the train, both the tourists and the locals started to realize that the ticket office sold too many tickets. That meant not enough seats. Nobody was happy about that. Kelly and I doffed our backpacks and crunched down on the floor near the doorway. The doors then closed. I heard tempers raging. Even though I couldn’t understand some of the languages, I knew that a bunch of mad, bad words were flying around the train car. Then the shoving started. I felt like I was in a pressure cooker. The heat was turning up. The pressure was building. We were going to explode. Oh no, I thought, should I try my best to protect Kelly, or should I jump in the breach and try my best to stop this thing from exploding (like that was really going to happen).

As I was suspended in my analysis of my self-reactions, I looked up to check the status of the impending explosion. I then noticed one of the locals get up from her seat and offer it to one of the tourist children. She then started to share her food and drink with the child. In an amazing instant, this act of kindness was like the pressure relief valve going off, letting the pressure out. The environment went from unkind to kind in an instant. I was amazed (and relieved). Locals and tourists were shaking hands, hugging, and settling in for the hot, dusty ride.

This local lady had a tender heart. She responded with kindness. She demonstrated the ability to go beyond her wants and needs to see and meet the need of a child. What a great picture of the love of Christ. “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Lue 23:34). Even though the train car did not explode, my understanding of forgiving love certainly exploded that day. I guess I could say that I tasted the Lord and saw that He was good that day.

Remind yourself often by marinating your heart in God’s Word:

John 3:16

“God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that
  whoever believes in him shall not parish but have eternal life.”

Luke 24:34

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

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