So, as I was out and about today accomplishing a few errands I had a few thoughts about my run-ins with strangers. These thoughts have manifested themselves into 3 rules that I feel that we need to have in our society, rules to make everyone's life a little easier.
#1: When driving if you can't just drive, limit yourself to only two tasks, driving and X.
In a perfect world we would all be able to drive and do nothing else. We wouldn't have to talk or text. We wouldn't have to eat or drink. We wouldn't have to do anything, except pay attention to the road and the other motorists around us. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world, so not only do we do other things, sometimes we do multiple other things. Take for instance the lady in the Penn Station parking lot today, who had a phone in one hand and a cigarette in her other hand.
Obviously this woman was a human being, so she only had two hands. If she had three maybe she could have used one to drive better with also. Unfortunately this was not the case, so her driving left something to be desired. Now, like I said I realize that this is not a perfect world, and so I understand that people multitask while driving. I have seen people read books while driving, which boggles the mind. I have seen and heard of people eating all kind of food while driving, from burgers to pizza to tacos to subway sandwiches. I understand that people are often in the need to conduct business or personal affairs by phone while driving. That all said, can we please try to limit it to only one thing while driving?
#2: When out in public refrain from cursing and screaming on your cell phones.
I was in the Penn Station parking lot, because I picked up lunch at Penn Station. Almost every time I go to Penn Station I am reminded of this time when I was at Lowes. It was a couple of years ago, when I finally got around to registering my car in Indiana so that I could stop registering it back home in West Virginia. Because of this I was in need of some spray to get my bolts loose on my license plate. I was walking through the store in order to find said spray and I encountered this woman talking on her phone. Well, talking would be saying it politely, the fact of the matter is that she was screaming and cursing on the phone. I don't remember what she was saying anymore, but I do remember that it had something to do with a guy and court.
I walked through the majority of that store and all I heard was this lady screaming and cursing about this guy and court. The reason I almost always remember this day at Lowes when I am at Penn Station is because the woman works at Penn Station. I doubt she knows I was there that day, I doubt she knows I remember it every time I see her. And I also doubt that it would matter is she did. Very often at work I encounter people who are so busy on their phones that they can't have the person hold while they check out a video. We are always on our phones and we are so often unconcerned about what we are saying and who is listening, but what if we kept our personal conversations private? What if we only screamed and cursed on the phone when we were alone, at the very least my time at Lowes would have been better.
#3: Let's realize that bumper stickers are not in the business of changing peoples minds.
I have a few bumper stickers, most of us do. I have one that says Love Wins, which I believe to be ultimately be true. I have another that says God is Green, because I believe that God, who created this ball we live on probably cares about this ball we live on, and the plants and animals and people who inhabit it. I have see bumper stickers that are funny, some that are insightful, some with pictures, others with designs, others with words. I have seen bumper stickers that support troops or cancer victims or gay rights. I have seen bumper stickers that show a cartoon character urinating on Ford or Chevy or Dodge, I have seen bumper stickers that rhyme and others that curse.
I have seen all of this and more but lately I am beginning to notice some cars are taking it to another level. There are a few cars around Anderson that not only have bumper stickers, but also stickers on their car doors and trunks and hoods. These are not small stickers, but rather large rectangles of words on a black background. Have you seen these cars? They have phrases on the stickers that go something like, 'You are going to burn in hell if you don't believe Jesus' or 'The King James is the only true version of the Bible'.
I have two thoughts on these messages. My first thought is that the latter is simply not true, there is nothing especially holy about the King James or any other translation. Once we started translating the Bible into languages other than the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic we changed things, just look into how many different words we translated into love, or look into what the word Paul used that we translate in Philippians 3:8 loss. My second thought is that people aren't swayed by bumper stickers. No one is going to become an environmentalist because of my God is Green bumper sticker let alone love Jesus because you scared him/her into it through a big rectangle on your drivers side door.
Bumper stickers do not change minds or save souls, so lets all stop acting like they do.
Peace and Love,
Pastor K
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