TOD 09.20.07

Every night my wife and I take our two sons for a walk. Ethan rides in the stroller while Spencer usually rides his bike, and the rules for him are simple. He must stay close to us, and he must stop whenever he sees the headlights of a car. In the beginning, we had to remind him repeatedly, but now he’s internalized the rule and, with his excellent vision, often sees cars far away before we do. In fact, like most children, he has become quite proud of his ability to follow this rule vigilantly.

But there’s a problem. Sometimes the moment when he spies a car is also the moment when he’s crossing an intersection. He stops, and I must quickly push him to the other side. He almost yells at me, “But, Daddy, there’s headlights!” “I know,” I respond, ”but you also need to not stop in the middle of a road.” Although he has grasped the rule, he has not yet learned when breaking it would honor its purpose better than following it would.

Sadly, this inability to know the exceptions to ethical norms is not something only my three-year-old struggles with. Many adults do as well, just like the Pharisees did when they observed Jesus breaking the Sabbath to heal.