July 28th, 2026
Hi Friends,
The siren caught me completely by surprise. It was a momentary blast, but unnerving.
Let me back up. I was in the midst of a tricky merge to the right so that I could exit Calgary’s busiest roadway. Complicating the process was two lanes, full of cars, merging from the right onto the road which I was leaving. Traffic had slowed and was almost bumper to bumper, most people using the zipper merge to alternate entry and exit. Suddenly, from my left, a large black SUV swerved over to cut in front of me. He was signalling and figured that gave him the right to force me to hit my brakes and allow him entry. I continued forward, not wanting to brake and be rear-ended by the person immediately behind me.
A moment later, I heard the siren, just one quick blast, as the black SUV cut in behind me. The vehicle in question was a “ghost car.” However, there was no more siren and no more flashing lights. Continuing the merge, I figured that the guy would wait until after the busy intersection where he could pull me over safely. He followed me all the way through the intersection while I was trying to figure out what I’d done wrong. In the space of the time it takes to clear an intersection, I realized that I’d done nothing wrong. As we cleared the intersection, I checked my rear-view mirror, waiting for the lights and siren to come on again. Instead, the SUV pulled out beside me and drove away.
It turns out that it was the police officer who was trying to make an unsafe lane change and, when I didn’t assent to it, got angry and tried to intimidate me just a bit. As he drove away, I chuckled to myself, imagining how the conversation would have gone if he pulled me over and I innocently asked him what I had done wrong and why he was trying to swerve in front of me.
Then I thought about a verse in Psalm 119: “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” and also about another verse from Peter’s first letter: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
There is freedom that comes from obeying God’s word as best you can. You are free from guilt and recognize any voice that would say otherwise as coming from the tempter. You are free to live your life and confront wrong, even when it is couched in authority (the officer was in the wrong, not me, and he knew it as well as I did). You are free to see things humbly (there are most certainly times when I drive and violate traffic laws in one way or another — and I am not one to think of those laws as merely suggestions left to my discretion) and to recognize grace and mercy given to you.
God’s law is “the perfect law of freedom.” You can choose to interpret it and select which parts you will obey, or you can simply obey in the conviction that God knows what he’s talking about. Do the latter and you will find freedom — from yourself, from Satan, and from intimidating authorities who have feet of clay just like you and me.
Blessings!
Doug