Over the past couple of weeks I have personally observed an
inordinate number of wacky driving practices. Just last Tuesday
night, on my way over to CCH for our late-night leadership-
meeting-marathon I experienced FOUR brushes with driving
infamy.
First, as I drove south toward CCH on one of Charleston’s unlit
streets I was met head-on by a car driving without ANY lights.
And yes, it was pitch dark. Then, as I approached the
intersection of Garfield and 9th street (where 9th street is now
one-way going south) a young woman in an SUV heading north (toward
Lincoln Avenue) ran the stop sign (accelerating) and swerved
around the “ROAD CLOSED: ONE WAY” barricade and sped through the
one-way construction zone to get to Lincoln. I could barely stand
to watch her as she successfully, but dangerously made it through
the construction zone. Then, as I made a right turn onto
Roosevelt from 9th St., I met a pickup truck, head-on, yep…
driving without lights. As I approached CCH on Roosevelt and came
to a stop at the intersection at 4th street—a car heading north on
4th street stopped dead in the middle of the road as if the
intersection were a four-way stop (even though there is NO stop
sign for northbound traffic). The other four cars that had met at
the intersection were gridlocked (and perplexed) by this quirky
driving practice of stopping for “phantom” stop signs. Horns
honked, and everybody survived.
And of course, we all have our own stories about people texting
while driving, reading while driving, eating and drinking while
driving, applying makeup while driving, typing on a laptop while
driving—or horror of horrors—doing them all at the same time while
driving.
Oh, and I can’t leave this one out. On Thursday, I was driving on
a very busy Lincoln Avenue as I approached a young woman riding
her bicycle in my lane (thankfully in the same direction)… she was
weaving erratically. As I cautiously passed her I beheld an
amazing sight: she was riding her bike—hands free—and texting with
both hands (in traffic). Oh, yes, and she had her earphones in
her ears listening to her IPod… so I doubt that she ever knew I
was even there. Scary.
So, what does all of this have to do with your “Spiritual
Life?”
Well, first of all, and probably the most obvious is… the world is
a dangerous place, and your life might just be shortened by one of
these dangerous drivers. So, you should probably be sure that
your seat belt is buckled, and that your life is “right” with God
before you start the engine of your car. And I am not joking
about that—especially the latter of the two.
Second, who among us has not been guilty of doing something really
dumb behind the wheel of a car (or on a bicycle)? I know I have
plenty of sorry stories I could regale you with about my own
carelessness. And I have, so far, escaped without incident—maybe
you have, too. So, the fact that you and I are still here, in one
piece, speaks volumes of the grace and mercy of our God. (Some of
you may think it is sheer, dumb luck. But I would like to think
God has played some role in protecting us from our own poor
choices at least some of the time.)
And third, the lessons we learn from this—well—they definitely
issue a CHALLENGE AND A CALL on our lives… If the quality of our
driving practices in any way reflects the quality of our spiritual
lives—we should probably get busy earnestly working on both.
There is good reason why the apostle Paul warned us to… “work out
[our] salvation with fear and trembling.” “Fear and trembling”…
yep, that just about covers it!
