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Have you driven by all that construction lately? You know, the place where the road is being widened and the intersection is being redone? It's a real problem to go on that road right now isn't it?
Road reconstruction is a way of life for us in this region. The state is always tearing up one road or another to widen or straighten or reconfigure. It can be frustrating and adds time and hassle to the daily commute.
Road reconstruction can be needed for a number of reasons. It can be the result of bad planning or mistakes that were made previously in the construction or in understanding the traffic flow patterns. It can also be the result of natural growth and development to which we have to respond. As businesses come and go and as housing developments open to follow population pressures, roads have to be changed to accommodate the new reality. Either way, the changes are disruptive and cause us much inconvenience and frustration while they are occurring.
To get through the period of reconstruction without going absolutely insane, we have to pay more attention to what we are doing and become aware of the changes that are being made. We need to look around and see what is happening and what this is likely to mean for our roads. Paying attention will allow us to anticipate and to plan for all of the reconstruction. Next we have to rethink our activities and our schedule. Knowing that the roads will be all bollixed up for some period of time, we can anticipate what the problems will be and take steps to avoid the worst of the problems. We can choose an alternate route or adjust our schedule to minimize the negative impact on our lives.
Finally, we can simply let go and relax and know that it will be a difficult time for a little time while the changes are being made. Just let go and know that things will be difficult. When we don't accept that there will be problems, we will always be frustrated. When we do accept that there will be difficulties – for a relatively short period of time in the overall picture – we can live with the problems.
Road reconstruction is a lot like our lives which are continually under reconstruction. We never "arrive" but are always in process. Some reconstruction is necessary because we have done bad planning or made mistakes in the past. Perhaps we have allowed sin to enter and to make a mess of things. Reconstruction is obviously necessary there, and the sooner we begin the smoother our lives will become. But in addition to past problems, some reconstruction will be needed as a result of our natural growth and development process of our lives. New education, new situations, and natural aging processes all call for reconstruction. When we learn something new, we have to adjust much of what we previously knew to accommodate the new learnings. When we move to a new home or start a new job or go to a new church, the same thing applies. And just growing up and older calls for reconstruction as we are presented with new challenges. Gail Sheehy and Daniel Levinson have helped us to understand some of these challenges and have shown us that the transition times can be difficult but survivable if we take charge.
Reconstruction is a way of life for us. If we can become aware and rethink how we live and be relaxed with ourselves, we will be able to move smoothly into our new pathways.
Dr. Benjamin G. Davis was executive director of the Religious Coalition for Emergency Human Needs in Frederick from 1996-99, teaches theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore and is president of the University of North America. If you would like to respond to his column, e-mail him at ben.davis35@ verizon.net.