You remember those mornings in high school. Teacher finishes taking roll, stands up, writes on the board:

You’ve been listening in class. Sort of. Taking notes. Usually. Doing your homework. Pretty much. Now, you’ll prove it.

I was reminded recently of a Pop Quiz on Default Behavior I failed a number of years ago. Badly.

It all started when I volunteered to prepare a light breakfast for our Men’s Retreat. This was an annual one-day event at our church. The church was, and still is, on Fulton Road, in Santa Rosa, California. This is vital information.

I got everything ready early in the morning: fruit, croissants, eggs to boil, little sausages in the crockpot. We lived exactly 6 1/2 minutes from the church. My daughter, Jessica, who was graciously helping me, took the eggs and sausages and left a few minutes before me. I had just left the house with the rest of the breakfast when she called to say the streets were closing due to a bike race.

Uh-oh.

Our beautiful Sonoma County is a magnet for wine lovers, redwood tree enjoyers, and bicyclists. You see cyclists frequently on our roads and lanes, pedaling along all hunched over, looking quite serious. And every fall there was – and still is in non-Covid years – a huge biking event called GranFondo. It can draw 7,500 participants who spend the day riding the county on staggered courses. Many streets are closed. Detour signs, no-right-turn signs, and don’t-even-think-about-it signs sprout early on that Saturday morning.

And it passes right by the church. And we had forgotten it was THIS Saturday.”Take Marlow to West College,” Jessica said, in that pre-Google Maps era. On the way, I checked a couple of other possible streets to Fulton. I approached West College. Closed. They can’t keep me from actually getting to the church. Can they?

When the traffic person began waving us through – in the wrong direction – I slowed and asked, “How do I get to Fulton?” She seemed flustered and told me to check streets that, it turns out, have already been checked. I explained this, somewhat calmly. “Just go,” she said finally, with an abrupt wave.

I go.

I called my husband who had not yet ventured out into this Brave New Morning. “Sorry. I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. You can’t help me? I HAVE THE REST OF YOUR BREAKFAST!

At one detour I saw a huge group of bikers rush past like a spandex nightmare. The next traffic person, with whom I pleaded for help, assured me this was the main batch and streets would open soon. I drove on. A cyclist was stopped at a yard sale. Something about it infuriated me. He was looking at tchotchkes while GranFondo and his weird-helmeted friends were ruining my morning.

It occurred to me that I was in Dante’s 10th Circle of Hell without a bicycle.

On the phone again with my husband:”You could have cut through the gas station on the corner near the church,” he said, having already arrived. I should have thought of this. When I was over here 35 minutes ago. And the fact that he was already there was just wrong.

Frustration was beginning to loosen the little gaskets in my brain.

Ten minutes later, I was at the gas station, circumventing the detour, and pulling into the church parking lot. Inside, my daughter had the serving area prepared, sausages were heated, eggs were boiled, coffee was ready. But instead of being grateful and gracious, my 40 minutes of being detoured and waved off and no-right-turned blew the little gaskets and I was teary and furious and, well, it was ridiculous.

What’s wrong with you? A tiny piece of rationality had survived the tempest in my brain. Why didn’t you simply stop at some point and think about what you were doing? The operative word here, by the way, is think.

Fact is, I was reminded of some important truths after this little test:

• My opinion of the circumstances has no bearing on the fact of the circumstances.
• Stopping and thinking and praying, would have given me time to cool down, consider the options, and communicate clearly.
• I would have been able to arrive at my destination having accepted that an event had occurred over which I had no control.

Now I had all that messy repenting and apologizing to do. And I marinated in my chagrin for the rest of the day.

And by the way:

• Shouldn’t we be wise enough to recognize how the enemy exploits our default behaviors?*
• Shouldn’t we be wise enough to modify our default behaviors?*

Yes, we should. And I would suggest that our current experience with the Covid-19 pandemic is providing ample opportunity to examine how we respond to detours, yield signs, blocked plans, hopes, dreams, upended schedules.

There is also the inability to worship as we long to do with our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ – together in person. But may I challenge you not to neglect this with your family. We cannot control this event, but we can control how we respond to it. It may mean worshipping and hearing the Word with our families in our homes in front of a big screen for a season. If that doesn’t suit us, let’s do it anyway. We are not in the catacombs or somebody’s secret basement. Don’t let the enemy instigate further distancing in your life. Model a joyful, dogged, spiritual persistence and support for your church family. Stay connected and prayerful.

Instead of a pop quiz, this may be a gigantic mid-term. But make one good decision at a time and you’ll get a “Well done.”

*Not rhetorical questions! I’d love your feedback in Leave a Reply below.