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Honk if you love Jesus,
but get out of my lane, buddy!
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___What is it with men and their machines?
___I enjoy getting behind the wheel of a car with a little zip, but the thrill of a fast car doesn't drive my life.
___Even though it is a generalization, men usually do put the pedal to the metal more often than women. And the more powerful
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ALISON WINGFIELD
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the engine, the better. (Picture Tim Allen from "Home Improvement" doing his famous macho grunt.)
___Most of us probably fit into numerous styles of driving, depending on the day, our destination and the passengers we're carrying.
___I cruise the middle of the road on this issue--not too fast and not too slow. But when I have an appointment to make and have cut it a little too close--a normal state of affairs--I become an impatient, get-out-of-my-way driver who talks to other drivers. OK, so maybe they can't hear me, but it sure does make me feel better to vent.
___Fast drivers who zip in and out of traffic are annoying, but what really irritates me is slow drivers. When stuck behind these slow-moving vehicles, I often am irritated by the time I reach my destination. Attaining a whopping 5 miles per hour on a residential street never has been a goal of mine.
___And then there are those helpful side and backseat drivers. I have been reprimanded on many occasions for offering what I thought was simple, helpful advice. How could anyone take offense to: "Watch OUT!" or "Honey, do you see that car???" |
__If automobiles had been invented during the time Jesus walked on earth, surely he would have told a parable of two drivers--one in the fast lane and one in the slow lane.
___I don't know what the point of the parable might have been, but this image would hav
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MARK WINGFIELD
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e been too good a vehicle of communication to pass by.
___How one drives tells volumes about the inner self. In fact, we could save psychologists a lot of money by ditching all those personality tests and just putting the analysts in the car with the patients.
___In my way of seeing the highway, there are two basic models of drivers: fast and slow. And putting the two together is like mixing oil and water. This distinction isn't always a male-female thing, but opposites do attract in marriages. Which is why it's so much fun to take a family trip in the car.
___Have you ever noticed how no one seems bothered by his or her own driving habits, but everyone can generate plenty of concern for another driver's methods?
___Even the most fearless drivers find reason to get squeamish when thrown in the passenger seat. There's a reason they've started installing those handle bars above the front-seat passenger windows. Now if they would just reinforce the carpet on the passenger-side floorboard, to account for all that make-believe braking.
___This must have something to do with leadership, trust or the desire to control our own fate. Reminds me of some bad theology put on a bumper sticker years ago and plastered on cars nationwide: "God is my co-pilot."
___For us hard-driving people, it's difficult to get out of the driver's seat and trust someone else with our destiny. Yet that is the demand of the Christian faith: Putting self aside and letting God safely pilot us to our destination.
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He Said/She Said is a new regular feature of the Baptist Standard's on-line edition. Mark Wingfield is managing editor of the Standard. Alison Wingfield is a freelance writer. The Wingfields moved to Texas in January from Louisville, Ky., where Mark had been editor of the Western Recorder, in which this column appeared weekly. |
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