Do You Talk To Other Drivers?

My friend, fellow Hoosier, and preaching colleague, Max Dawson, is a “car guy” So, he publishes a Monday Column headed “Pontiacs, Points, and Proverbs.” It’s a very clever “weekly blog about cars, morality, and spiritual truth.”

In an April post on facebook, he asked the question, “Do you talk to other drivers?” I do. Much to my wife’s dismay. So does Max. You’ll enjoy the story he tells and appreciate the spiritual application.

I think it is something lots of folks do. I talk to other drivers. Do you? I often do it at stoplights. The car in front of me has not moved, though the light turned green four seconds ago. I might say, “That’s as green as it gets, bud. Time to go!” Maybe he was playing with his phone. Has that ever happened to you? Do you talk to him and tell him to go?

I guess you are not really talking to him because he does not hear you. Maybe you talk to him with your horn, signaling that it is time to move. But you have to be careful with the horn; a lot of people get angry when you honk at them.

I find myself talking to other drivers a lot. I tell them to stay in their lane, slow down, don’t tailgate, and lots of other things. Do you do that? No one ever listens to me, even though I am giving them good direction. And it is probably best that they can’t hear me, even though I don’t use cursing or any foul language. Nobody wants to be bossed around.

I recall an incident from about five years ago. My friend, David, and I were on our way to Indianapolis. He was driving. We were on a four lane highway that was about to become two lanes. Women were driving the two cars just ahead of us. The lady who was first in line was a poker; she was driving a lot slower than the other traffic.

I said, “Pass her! Pass her!” I was talking to the lady just in front of us, telling her to pass the poker before we got to the two lane part of the road. But David, thinking I was talking to him, immediately whipped out into the passing lane, passed the lady in front of us and then crowded in behind the poker who was leading the line of traffic.

I said, “David, I didn’t mean you! I meant her!” David looked in his mirror. The lady we passed was on our bumper. She gave David an obscene gesture to indicate her displeasure with what we had done. She may have said something also; but we didn’t hear it. David and I can laugh about that incident today, but it was a bad move that we made on that day.

Is there is a moral to this story? Is there any spiritual lesson? One thing is sure; we should never listen to bad advice, even if it comes from a friend. And, in this case, the friend would have been better to keep his mouth closed–because his words were misinterpreted. Here are some Proverbs that might be helpful in such cases:

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

“Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23).

My words on that day were not fitly spoken. And, while we did not get in trouble, it would have been better to guard my mouth and tongue. We needlessly made that woman angry by what we did. It is always wise to watch our words.

Thanks, Max, for some timely advice. Watching our words is a daily challenge. Let’s all work to do better. Even when we’re talking to the driver in front of us.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman