17 March - Day 15 - 'There's No Traffic Jam On The Extra Mile' R Staubach

Having been far too grumpy over the past week about a set of four-way temporary traffic lights on a large roundabout on my route (and having tried various ways to avoid them by going around traffic, riding on the pavement and taking a very steep alternative route), I had resolved this morning to just wait in the queue. I regretted this decision once I realised that all the traffic lights had clearly been stuck on red for some time. It did look like people were gradually attempting to go through but nobody could see all the junctions when they set off so were having to find ways of being considerate of other drivers.

I managed to get around a long queue just as the one car remaining in front of me set off through the red light. I’m somebody who is not very good at leading the way on rule breaking but somehow it felt perfectly fine following the car through ( an aspect of human nature I suspect we (and sheep) can all relate to). What was interesting is that when the lights were working all week, people were getting annoyed about the long queues and those who jumped the lights or blocked the exits. Today, with no rules available, as I made my way around, with the traffic behind me having to go more slowly, it did seem that the considerate driving, responses and understanding had improved. The cars at the back of the long queue on the opposite side, may not have shared my optimism about human responses to difficulties or rules but it did prompt me to look up the saying used in the title.

Fascinated again by the origin of phrases, I checked to confirm that ‘going the extra mile’ comes from an adaptation of a commandment in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Ch 5 v 41) , ‘whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.’ Under Roman Law, a Roman soldier passing by a Jew could order him to carry his pack for a mile. Jesus was suggesting that his followers go two miles instead, possibly as a passive sense of resistance to an unjust system (not that I’m sure cycling through a red light can be seen as this) or by showing the greater good.

So with 4065 miles remaining and today marking 10% of the journey, perhaps we all need to go the extra mile today to do something good and be considerate of others. As I continue on the journey, I also hope that each mile helps to highlight what is unjust about a system or a society where the numbers of people who are vulnerable, homeless, isolated or in poverty still increase.