Last week I was driving on a small country road when I came to a one-lane bridge. I stopped and looked and, sure enough, there was a car coming from the other way. I allowed that person to cross before I ventured onto the bridge.

It struck me that there aren’t many one-lane bridges left. When I was growing up, including the first years after getting my driver’s license, learning to look to the other end of the bridge and wait for on-coming traffic was a necessary skill.

Watching for others and then yielding to them matters not only in driving on bridges. It’s easy to think that what we say is more important than someone else’s words…so we don’t listen. Or that our time is more precious than theirs…so we don’t wait. Or that our personal rights matter more…so we disregard others.

Maybe we need more one-lane bridges in our world, so that we can hone in on our skills of noticing the people around us and then respecting them.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”

Matthew 7:12