I was on my way back to the church driving south on Route 413 from Saint Mary’s Hospital when I first figured something was amiss. The intersection at Bridgetown Pike seemed unusually congested for mid-day, cars barely moving through it towards the two stone arch railroad bridges and up the hill into the borough.  And then I saw them, those orange canvas road signs, rippling slightly in the wind.  “Be Prepared to Stop,” the first read. “Flagger Ahead,” the second announced. “Darn,” I said.

It turned out that PennDOT has already gotten to work on this winter’s potholes. A slow convoy of trucks was making its way down 413, workers filling the potholes in the southbound lane as the convoy crawled along its way.  The flagger was there to stop us, waiting for his northbound buddy to stop his traffic every once in awhile to let a few of us around the fleet on PennDOT trucks.

I’m all for PennDOT patching potholes, but did they have to do it at the very moment I was making my way from Saint Mary’s to the church? I think I waited an hour, or maybe it was five minutes, for my turn to ease into the northbound lanes of 413, through the two stone arch tunnels, and back to the office.

None of us enjoys waiting, but I think I am on the high side of wait intolerance. I detest waiting.  The thoughts I have thought after 45-minutes in the doctor’s office waiting room are far worse than the words I have said, the tone of voice carrying the weight of the message I wished to convey.

People to see, sermons to prepare, classes to organize, emails to answer.  And I was stuck behind a PennDOT pothole crew on 413.  I wasn’t happy, but I am pretty sure the Bible was on my side.  “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil,” writes the Apostle Paul exhorting the Ephesians to avoid getting stuck behind a slow-moving PennDOT crew.

How can tapping my fingers on the steering wheel be the best use of my time in these evil days?

This is one of those times, however, when seminary Greek comes back to haunt.  I knew it as soon as I started to proof text my intolerance.  Yeah, Paul is not speaking of chronos time, not finger tapping on the steering wheel time or an hour, maybe it was five minutes, wasted time. Paul is talking about kairos time, gift from God time.  The NIV translation may have gotten a better sense of Paul’s intent, “make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

Stuck in traffic behind the PennDOT flagger just below the first stone arch railroad bridge on 413 may not have been a waste of time; it was an opportunity, and I was being called to make the most of it.

I remembered my Greek vocabulary just in time as I sat in my not-moving car on 413. I had been given an opportunity to reflect on the wonderful visit I’d just had with a church member hospitalized at Saint Mary’s, his hope and his faith. I gave thanks to God for the privilege of those few minutes the member and I had shared together, probably the best minutes I’d be given that day.

Maybe PennDOT could add a third orange sign warning motorists that they are patching the potholes up ahead.  “Be Prepared to Stop,” the first could say. The second could add, “Flagger Ahead.”  The new sign could remind us, “Make the Most of the Opportunity.”

See you Sunday – no pothole patching on the Lord’s Day, so you shouldn’t be delayed.