Who Can Explain?

Upon my arrival in Israel last week, I found myself waiting in line at passport control. And what a line it was! By my estimation, about 250 people were in front of me. At the slow rate things were moving (there was only one person working there that day due to a strike), I figured it would take a couple hours. Now, virtually everyone in line was grumbling. And oh so tired after a ten hour flight. I tried to control myself, tried to use the time wisely with reading, but admittedly I was grumbling too. Why? I talk a lot about not letting external things get under our skin, that we have the ultimate freedom to choose our reaction to those things that come our way. Still, I grumbled (to myself). And then something happened. Out of nowhere, an airport worker comes over to me, asks for my passport, and checks me through ahead of everyone else. I said to her : “how about these people in front of me?” And she looked at me sternly and said “I know what I’m doing.” At that point, I decided it best to keep my mouth shut. But the whole thing was strange, unpredictable, so seemingly random. Who can explain?