Honor takes time

By Jeff Becraft

As I was driving to the post office this morning on Broad River Road, there was an ambulance coming the opposite direction.  I had to make a left hand turn but I didn’t know if the ambulance was going to have to jump into the turn lane so I stayed out of there and slowed down in my lane with my blinker on… which then slowed down everyone behind me and backed up traffic.

The people in the opposite lanes had done their job and pulled over some and slowed down… and the ambulance was able to pass through cleanly and quickly.

When I was growing up, if an ambulance or fire truck or police car was coming, it was top priority to get out of the way so these vehicles could get through. Anymore, though, there has been more than one occasion where it seems to me that an ambulance is just out in the mix and fighting for position to get through just like everyone else. We all have deadlines and places to go.

My grandmother (Granny) lived in Appalachia, VA. It was an extremely small town in the mountains of deep southwest Virginia… right in the middle of coal mining country. The local drive-in at Big Stone Gap was called The Country Boy.

Years ago, when Granny passed away, we were all in town for the funeral. As we drove in the funeral procession through town, every single car that was on the road pulled over to the side to a full stop… and stayed there until the entire procession had passed.

I was awe-struck.

I had never seen something like this before. It deeply touched me. I felt a great camaraderie with those people… people I didn’t even know and whom I had never even met… because of the great honor they were showing my grandmother and our family.

Honor takes time. It interrupts our schedules. Yet how important it was to us at that moment.

I wonder how many important things are slipping through our lives because we say… because we say we don’t have time.

Jeff Becraft is the Executive Director for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives.  Youth Corps is a life-changing leadership development experience that inspires high school students to be leaders in the Midlands and beyond. You can connect with Jeff at [email protected].