Peaceful Easy Feeling

Imagine all the energy we collectively waste in trivial pursuit of real and imagined sleights, hassles, insults, feuds, grudges and political disputation.

All this was brought to the Rainmakers immediate attention yesterday afternoon by a close encounter while ambling across a street in a cross walk with a small red car being driven quite recklessly by a young man on a cell phone in Arlington, Virginia. Evasive action was required before the obliviously distracted driver realized he had a helpless pedestrian in his sights.

The surprising thing isn't that the heart got a good old fashioned aerobic jump start, or that there was one quite contrite driver once awareness kicked in. The surprising thing is the emotion experienced by your pedestrian writer. Rather than road rage or even anger the reaction was one of giddy relief at escaping injury or even death. It was a momentary celebration of staying alive that has lasted overnight and well into the next day, reminding the Rainmaker of the old lyric by Rare Earth, "I just want to celebrate another day of living."

This reaction obviously surprised the concerned driver as well as several passers by who found the lack of anger wholly unexpected.

All this leads one to recognize that forgiveness is indeed a virtue and that having well and truly forgiven those who offend us, do us wrong or make us angry for whatever reason leads to a, with apologies to the rock group the Eagles, "Peaceful Easy Feeling."

That isn't a bad place to be. In fact it is infinitely preferable to a hospital or worse.