There are times that I am incredibly proud of the town that we live in. Among many other notable achievements, Carmel, IN is the roundabout capital of the nation, with about 150 of the traffic circles that have been shown to reduce accidents, death and damage during collisions. In the beginning, we were thought to be crazy to invest the funds in replacing traffic lights with concrete circles. The city has also invested in art, including sculptures, to create a truly first rate city where the arts can thrive, not only in downtown but throughout the entire community. Almost every roundabout has some nod to the arts as its centerpiece.
Yes, it takes some getting used to, but the benefits of the investment have paid huge dividends in ways that seemed unfathomable in the beginning. Insurance claims are down, injuries are less severe and the environment is safer with fewer obnoxious annd toxic emissions from cars sitting in traffic jams. This whole endeavor was the brainchild of a friend of mine, the former mayor of Carmel, Jim Brainard. In fact, Jim was one of the first people I met when we moved to Carmel in the fall of 1982, long before he was elected our mayor.
In addition to the roundabouts, we have one of the top Christkindlmarkts in the nation as well – another brainchild of our city leadership. For such a relatively small place, with a population of about 100,000, we are forward thinking and always coming up with new ideas to improve our community and the lives of our citizens. Our family is proud to have been a part of Carmel for almost 43 years.
All of this is important because the city leaders have embraced another new concept that we hope will also sweep the nation – the idea of being civil to one another. Yes, I am sure that it sounds campy or even impossible but this community is very serious about positively impacting the rest of our nation. We like to think of ourselves as thought leaders, willing to try new things to improve the quality of life for our citizens.
Our world today has become a hotbed of anger and persecution. I don’t need to go into detail about this but suffice it to say that even people claiming to be Christian are falling far short of the goal that Christ set for us – to love one another as His Father loves Him – and how Jesus loves us. People spew hatred without thinking and profess to be experts about subjects they know nothing about. They pontificate and think that their words will somehow carry more weight than their “hateful” neighbors.
In the midst of all this vitriol, our city leaders have begun to discuss and teach about civility – the act of being civil to one another. It’s not a new concept, but one that seems to have seen its best days and faded into the background. But we are serious! We are trying to be a kinder, gentler community where people with differing political views, as an example, can learn from one another and try to understand different ways of thought. There are even books that our town council has encouraged us to read – and seminars that are put on, free of charge, to help people explore and, hopefully, embrace this new way of engaging one another. One of our at-large members of the city council, Jeff Worrell, is leading the charge and almost weekly he is writing articles that appear in local publications reminding us of the importance of being civil to one another.
Of course, to be successful, civility requires humility. In Greek, the idea of humility, or being humble, is to consider others better than yourself. Clearly, it is a difficult concept to understand, let alone master. It goes against our human nature… This does not mean that each of us gives up our right to be heard – but it means that we learn how to actively listen, to ask questions and to put the needs of the community above our own selfish desires. Undoubtedly, it is a very serious experiment that we hope will be as successful as our commitment to roundabouts and the Christkindlmarkt. Needless to say, it is more important than either of these other successful initiatives.
Perhaps this sounds like an impossible goal given the national sentiments the last several years. And I am not blaming one side over the other – both parties have become selfish and work to advance their own agenda to the exclusion of involving their perceived enemies. This is all done under the guise of “what is best for the country” but I don’t buy it.
We are a passionate bunch in this nation and we need to work together and listen to one another with a spirit of humility and civility. Our verse for tonight is from Paul’s letter to his church at Philippi. Paul commands his church community, and us, in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
When this verse is combined with Christ’s command to love one another, I hope that people will stop and embrace these biblical mandates. My encouragement this evening is that we are made in the image of God and that requires us to step up our game and act like the ambassadors that we are. My prayer is that our city’s commitment to civility will spread and create a national movement of civility that will replace the anger and hatred that we all experience on a daily basis. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…