Without a Conscience

I watched a fascinating drama unfold yesterday. I was sitting outside Starbucks facing Kinkos. There are two ways into the Starbucks parking lot and one is a cut through from the Kinkos lot. I watched as a lady parked her car in that cut through. It never dawned on her that all the other parked cars had curbs in front of them. She parked her car blocking half the cut through and walked into Kinkos. I watched as cars slowly made their way past her car. Each driver looked confused as they inched around her to try to get to either the bread store or Starbucks. She walked out one time while a car inched by her. I thought she would notice and quickly move her car but she didn't. Instead she got in her car, sat for a moment, popped her trunk and went back into Kinkos. She came out another half dozen times only to do the same thing. It really was pretty amazing. She never had a clue that she was causing other people all kinds of problems. It made me think what we would all be like without a conscience. God gave us a conscience so we would have a nagging feeling that something was wrong in our world and the thing that is wrong is us. It really is a great gift. I have heard shame called the immune system of the soul. If my finger is swollen and red it is letting me know that something is wrong deep down. Shame works like that. It lets me know something is wrong deep down.My conscience is part of that immune system. Today I invite you to thank God for your conscience. Without it you would not only be a mess you would get on people's nerves in a way you can't even imagine. But don't stop there. Go ahead and ask God for forgiveness. An immune system is an amazing thing but the thing that makes it wonderful is the healing it triggers. Let your conscience trigger confession and then forgiveness and then spiritual health. And then pay attention to where you park.