When was the last time you made a trip to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles)? Did you love it? What adjectives would you use to describe your time there? Invigorating? Inspiring? Refreshing? What adjectives would you use to describe the people who were in line there with you? Excited? Patient? Gracious? And how about the workers? Were they optimistic, motivated, and kind? did they seem happy to see you, and like their highest aim was to add value to your day?

I met someone just like that in a recent driver’s license replacement trip to my local DMV. Her name was Rose, and she radiated warmth, compassion, and infectious joy. She was encouraging, upbeat, and when I asked her if she had worked there long, she replied, “Oh yes, can you tell?” I couldn’t actually because her attitude was such a sharp contrast to the atmosphere around her. She was an example of a thermostat that sets the climate of a room, versus a thermometer that merely reflects it.

I left the DMV that day with a little smile on my face, and some conviction in my heart, wondering if my Christianity is positively affecting the atmosphere around me. I wondered if my life is a bright spot, a true spiritual reference point, for any of the people in my community, or if I am merely a “Christianized” version of the culture around me.