Posts Tagged: my wife’s driving

“ON DRIVING MY OWN CAR”

On December 18, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer


I often read some snippets from 12-step recovery books.  They are published by Hazelden to help addicts like me.  These excerpts are also published to get people to buy Hazelden books. If you’ve got some extra coins lying about, these books would be well worth the price, even if you’re not an addict.

One excerpt that I read this morning made me laugh. It also made me think.

“It’s hard to keep from trying to control the lives of others, especially in a family. We can learn from the man whose friend drove twenty miles to and from work on the freeway every day. ‘How can you do it?’ he asked. ‘I’ve tried, and I can’t go a mile in such traffic without screaming at the crazy drivers who cut in, go too slow, change lanes. Nobody listens. I’d lose my mind if I had to do it your way.’ His friend replied, ‘Your trouble is trying to drive every car around you. I relax and drive only one car – my own.’” (Today’s Gift, December 18, 2018)

Driving one car is difficult enough. Driving more than one?  Way too much!  And yet, how often I try to drive other people’s cars!  To stay with the literal aspect of the metaphor for a moment, my wife is an excellent driver, much better than I am.  However, when I’m riding shotgun, she has to frequently remind me that she is driving and I am not.  Driving a car from the passenger’s side is not easy.

The Apostle Paul warns the believers in Rome not to try to run other people’s lives.  “Don’t judge your brothers and sisters!” he warns them in chapter 14. In Romans 14:13, Paul says, “If you are going to judge at all, judge this: Judge yourself!  Don’t cause your brother or sister to stumble!

There are certainly times when we have to intervene in other people’s lives, but we rarely have the courage to do that.  More often, we want to intervene when it is really none of our business.

The meditation from Today’s Gift ends by asking a wonderful question: “What acts of others can I ignore today?”

Choosing to ignore how other people are doing may be a sign that we are properly concerned with what we are doing ourselves. I need to drive my own car.

, , , , , ,
Follow on Feedly