Spiritual Intersection

             
One day I was walking home from the bus stop, and I was at an intersection. The light was red in the direction I needed to go. I was on Facebook on my cell phone, but I was aware of my surroundings. When the light turned green and I got the walk signal, I started walking across the street, but I was still paying attention to my phone. After I had just barely left the curb onto the crosswalk, I saw out of the corner of my eye a car that was headed directly for me. The driver didn't notice me until they were almost right on top of me, but thankfully they hit the brakes fast enough as I jumped expecting a collision. I was heading in the right direction, and I had the right of way, but I wasn't paying attention to what was going on around me. Instead I was focused on my phone. The driver of the car that almost hit me didn't stop at the green light before making the right turn, as they weren't required to stop, but they apparently didn't see me until after they started turning. I didn't do anything wrong, and they didn't do anything wrong, it was just a matter of paying attention to your surroundings before moving.
This can sometimes happen to us on the crosswalks of life. We may be heading in the right direction, and not be doing anything wrong, but we may not be paying attention to what's going on around us. We may be going to church, saying our prayers, reading our scriptures, but we aren't looking to notice the opposition that sometimes subtly crosses into our path. If we're doing all the right things, but we have our focus on something other than what's going on around us and just mindlessly going through the motions in the Church, Satan can slyly stick his foot in the door. He will tell a thousand truths to get you to believe one lie. Along with being a good person, we also need to know what situations we need to avoid, harmless as they may seem, to avoid being "hit by a turning car," or being led into temptation without realizing it. We are taught to avoid the appearance of evil. We need to think about who we hang out with, what groups we're affiliated with, and our overall appearance to other people. If we're aware of our surroundings, we can stay on the right path and we won't be led away by the subtle temptations of the devil. If we keep our attention off of our "cell phones" when we cross the intersections of life, and we pay attention to our surroundings, we can avoid those temptations and stay on the straight and narrow path without getting bumped off.