Public Transportation.

Although I've lived in big cities, I am for the first time using public transportation to finish the commute to my job. The first few days were no problem; I was one of only a handful of people riding. This week, however, the "traffic" has picked up, and I have found my self face to face (or eyeball to armpit) with many more members of the public.

The guy sitting next to me yesterday looked clean when he got on the bus. But as he chose the seat next to and slightly above my seat, I quickly discovered that he did not smell clean. I had to turn my head away from him to keep from losing my breakfast. Odors, however, are not the only unpleasantness about public transportation. Space is also a problem. I like my personal space and try to respect the space of others. Yet the morning bus ride seems to be more crowded every day. One day last week, all the seats were taken, and three people were standing, holding onto poles. And speaking of holding on, the bus driver on Wednesday seemed intent on driving us to our deaths--and in response we were holding on for dear life itself.

There are some positive elements to this new experience of riding the bus. I get to see some people regularly, and in polite, distant terms, I get to know these people. While I really don't know much about them, there is a comfort in seeing their familiar faces, reminding me that I am not really alone. I also get to see some of my students on this bus; our student/teacher relationship gets put aside on these trips; we enter into a kind of equality where we are just riders of the same bus.

We are all riders of a much larger bus--the earth--as it spins and traverses space in a way that does leave some of us holding on tight because it seems life will topple over any minute now. My survival doesn't depend, however, on how tightly I hold on because my safety is dependent on how tightly my Driver has hold on me. The Scriptures tell me that I am written on His hands and that underneath are Everlasting Arms. My head may spin as life's events occur, but He is never out of control, steering me to His appointed destination.