When I think of institutions with which I struggle most to receive as a blessing, near the top of my list would be the cable company and the DMV. Interaction with either is sure to be a temptation for me, inviting me to forget words like charity and humility as I lapse into reactive patterns of my past peacock years in which I responded to inefficiency and bureaucracy with behaviors that have now become sermon illustrations.
With that in mind, I was astonished at how effortless it was for me today at the NY DMV. I was in and out in no time, and the clerks processing my paperwork were positively human. Yet another milestone in our stay here that is helping me to understand Ol Blue Eyes song, "New York, New York."