October 28, 2014
A Case for Road Rage
Recently while driving in Denver during rush
hour I tried to leave space between me and the driver ahead of me, but cars taking
advantage of the space I’d left and kept cutting in. It wasn’t long before I
started snugging up to the bumper of the guy in front of me — just to keep
other cars from invading my space. I know my attitude was wrong, but that
didn’t stop me from trying to find a Scripture that might somehow justify my
actions. Paul said, “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept
you from obeying the truth” (Galatians 5:7 NIV)?
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Gail;
-----Driving in big cities scares me. Their streets are rivers of cars. And like the torrents in our mountain streams, it seems like the weight of the flow will ultimately smash you against some boulder. But I’ve noticed a seeming sensitivity towards your need to change lanes in most big city drivers.
-----In little Montrose, about half the reason we might be in one or the other lane of our multi-lane streets is just because we want to be in that lane. Maybe a quarter of the reason might be to get around a slow mover in front of us. And the remaining quarter is because we must be in a certain lane to negotiate a needed turn.
-----The last reason is probably about three-quarters of the reason traffic in big cities want to be in one lane or another. Long ago I learned to list my turns on an index card using two columns: one for the street I need to turn onto, and the other for the street before it. That way I would be given ample time to negotiate into the proper lane so I would not miss my turn. On those crowded freeways there’s much less latitude for occupying a certain lane out of mere attitude.
-----Even more important than that is the need to not travel in either the outermost or innermost lanes. These lanes rarely go too far before they become a turnoff. And by the time you’ve noticed your lane is now an exit, you’re not going to get back into the straight ahead flow without risking an embarrassing accident. Unless someone sensitive to your need is in the lane beside you, you’re going where the lane you’re in is going.
-----In this world there’s always the fear that your generosity will be consumed by pigs. It is the place where many swine are out and about rooting up as many truffles as they can find on other people‘s land, because they‘ve eaten them all up off their own land. The Lord tells us in His Word not to cast our pearls before swine. But on the freeway, there is hardly time to test your neighbor’s character. The Word also tells us to be generous towards the needy. And in that flowing river of cars are many people who really do need your lane quickly to get where they’re going. A missed turn for them can mean ten minutes lost to correction. My giving just enough space to indicate a willingness to back off when another needs it might feed some truffles to a few pigs, but every ten minutes it saves a good neighbor costs me just a few seconds. In my estimation, that’s a good buy. I might get to where I’m going a couple minutes later, but my neighbors are happy and the pigs get fed. God sees it all.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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