Hear No Horns

You notice it right away; no one seems to be in a hurry. Efficient, attentive, friendly, but not in a hurry. You get your first hint of this at the baggage claim. The usual jockeying for the best spot to grab your luggage on the carousel is not happening.  Folks are just standing around, meeting with their families and friends who have come to welcome them to the island. This, while keeping an occasional eye on the carousel for their bags to show up. We are under a roof, but there are no walls. The baggage claim area is in an outdoor pavilion.

Then to the rental car counter, where the brightly clad, flower-in-hair clerk is managing contracts and handing out keys. We wait in line with a few others. It’s so different. No one is anxious or the least bit in a hurry. The clerk is doing her job, but at the same time, chatting up the customer and offering advice about how to get to their destination and what to see and do along the way. In Detroit, we show our love for one another by standing in line with impatient fortitude staring at the clerk, thinking our staring will make him go faster.

Impatient waiting is one of those behaviors that doesn’t really feel like a sin, but sometimes is. Like most of our sins, we are likely to underestimate their consequences. In the final hours before his crucifixion, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 ESV)

Here, waiting for our Mazda, no one is staring. The line we are in is not very organized, more of a group of folks waiting for their turn to get a car, but not really thinking about it very much. People are actually talking with the strangers around them.

Our son, who has come to meet us, issues a warning not to use the car horn. He said, “Horn blowing is considered very rude behavior, and no one ever uses the car horn.” This turned out to be true. I only heard a car horn one time during our month-long visit to Hawaii.

Out on the freeway, the traffic is heavy near the airport. Everyone is amazingly courteous. I’ve never experienced drivers this friendly anywhere in my life. They are patient; they let you in and out of where you need to go. They slow down and motion you to pull out. It is so easy and peaceful to drive around here despite the occasional heavy traffic. And no horns, aggressive lane changes, or hand signals to let you know what they think of you.

The culture here is remarkably different. A great mix of ethnic variety, and it seems everyone is outside. Drive across town, and the traffic is mostly made up of walkers, runners, and bikers on a workout or heading to or from the beach, the coffee shop, the church, or wherever. Some of the bicycles are equipped with a special rack to hold a surfboard. Never saw that before.

After a few days, this courteous, patient, talkative, diverse culture becomes more and more apparent and surprisingly different. The downtown areas are full of small mom-and-pop stores and shops. It is like what I remember from the 60s. Land suitable for building and living is scarce. There is no room for a Supercenter Walmart with a giant parking lot in every town. There are a couple of small Walmarts on this island, but none of the Supercenter variety.

There are miles and miles of two-lane roads with the posted speed limit of 25 mph. The bike/walk lanes are full of dog walkers and beach goers as well. Everyone just creeps along at this slow speed, going all around and quite happy about it.

I have a theory as to why this is so. Or at least part of the reason. It’s the weather. Every day is beautiful. The temperature is 72 degrees plus or minus 5, year-round. When the occasional rain falls, it’s a warm rain, very little wind, and everyone just ignores it and carries on getting a little wet.

When you get to where you are going, you open the car door and sit in the car for a few seconds. Then you get out, close the car door, and stand there looking around, taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of a tropical paradise. Finally, you take a few slow steps toward where you are going to do whatever it is you are doing. This new, slower pace and happier attitude you've acquired are a bit surprising and disorienting.

I’m trying to figure out what is happening. My theory is based on the idea that there is no need to rush from the comfort of a heated or air-conditioned car to a heated or air-conditioned building. There is no need to layer up or down to protect oneself from a disagreeable temperature. Because of this, your car window is down, you open the door to get out, and you just sit there in a calm state while you think about something besides moving fast to avoid the cold or the heat.

The people who live here experience this every day. They expect it to be this way. It affects how they think. It is the most pleasant thing to wait in line, outside, for a cup of fabulous Hawaiian coffee while watching the diversity go by, listening to the birds, and marveling at the weird and huge trees. And there are no horns, despite the sometimes-busy streets, tight corners, and limited parking.

There may be a bit more love for one another around here, or at least a little less of the "get out of my way, I am the center of the universe” attitude. Perhaps John Mark Comer’s book, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry,” was a best seller on the islands. Comer writes, “Hurry and love are incompatible.”  Another favorite quote from Comer is “…if there’s a formula for a happy life, it’s quite simple – inhabit the moment.”

At first, I thought this culture is what it is because everyone here is on vacation. This, of course, is not true. Then I had an idea that since this is a place dominated by two big industries, the military and tourism, an overwhelmingly large middle class is the result, and most folks are living a happy, prosperous life. And then there is the weather. Did I mention the weather?

Whatever the reason, there is something to learn from this melting pot of diverse cultures and the unhurried pace of life.

Today’s Lectio[i] prayer seems perfect: Jesus, I choose again, the path of an apprentice. Teach me to love you with all my mind, all my heart, all my body, and all my strength. Help me to imitate and include you as I plan my diary, write my to-do list, waste time on my phone, even as I walk through my neighborhood. Shape my life around your “unforced rhythms of grace” (Matthew 11:29, MSG).

I have resolved to bring this much-reduced anxiety home with me. I’ll try a little harder to love and resist a heart posture of impatience. And, at least for the next few months, remember my hat, gloves, and scarf so my journey to and from the car need not be rushed.

 
____________________

[i] Lectio is a daily online devotional written and hosted by leaders and friends of the 24-7 Prayer movement around the world. Check out the phone app, highly recommended.