Just Wave
It wasn’t something I ever thought about doing when driving in the suburbs of Chicago where I grew up. In fact, performing it there on the streets, highways and interstates could be misinterpreted as another kind of gesture. Today I refer to a widespread practice in small towns and on rural roads. A friendly gesture…the wave. In our area, you wave even if you don’t know the person. Sometimes you wave even if you do not feel like it. Waving is part of being a good neighbor. Didn't everyone wave in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood?
You may not know or recognize the other driver, but you may very well know someone who knows or is related to them. Wave anyway. Sometimes we recognize the make/model of car, or the license plate is familiar. That could make us either more or less likely to wave due to preconceived notions about the other driver. I believe if Jesus were driving a car today, He would wave to all fellow motor vehicle operators regardless of their make or model!
Sometimes only drivers of the same type of vehicle will wave to each other. Should we limit who we interact with in our everyday lives? “And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? (Matt 5:47) In other words, wasn’t Jesus teaching us to wave without discrimination?!
If there are God winks--an event or personal experience, often identified as coincidence, so astonishing that it is seen as a sign of divine intervention or answer to a prayer--then I am sure there are God waves. Sometimes He is urgently trying to get our attention. Other times He just wants to remind us that He is with us. Maybe we need that wave to re-direct us from troubled thoughts or actions. Perhaps God’s wave is a gentle reminder not to judge a book by its cover. Here on earth, we are God’s hands and voice. He is waving and speaking to others through us. We extend His hand when we welcome others.
And that is our everyday challenge. Whether driving, walking, grocery shopping, we are called to acknowledge the Christ in everyone we meet. Wouldn’t you wave to Christ if you saw him from a distance? How excited would you be to see Him? I think we might do everything we can to get His attention.
It is generally believed that people from small towns tend to be friendlier. We are more likely to give perfect strangers a smile, a hello, a good morning or a how are you? Isn't that what Jesus did during his public ministry whenever safely possible as he went from town to town? This is a habit we can all imitate.
Do not let the preconceived ideas of the other person and what they might think of you keep you from waving or smiling a friendly hello. Your wave may be the only acknowledgement another person has that day.
A wave sparks an almost automatic response, encouraging another to return the gesture. This is like what happened in the early 1980’s at sporting events when vast numbers of spectators burst into the highly coordinated movement we know as The Wave. It still happens today, and it is still contagious!
I know that waving seems like a small thing, but it rarely fails to make me smile when I am the recipient of a wave, whether I know the waver or not. That wave can make me feel special, visible and that my presence matters in the moment.
1 Peter 4:9 – "Offer hospitality to one another without complaining."
Romans 15:7 – "Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God."
Any who are shy and have trouble finding the right words, just wave.
Come you outgoing with much to say, wave and watch.
Welcome the stranger passing you on the road with a wave. May you both be blessed.
Go beyond what your physical eyesight can detect, wave, and look for the Jesus in others.
On the road this last week of August, let’s practice being the Christ who waves.
