Trajectory

 

Trajectory                               May 2017

When you drive on a country road in Kansas, there are power lines next to you. They tend to go in a straight line paralleling the long east/west or north/south farm roads. In California, with mountains and hills and curving highways, the power lines cross back-and-forth. Sometimes they are on the right, sometimes on the left. I noticed this because on this bright, shiny day the shadow of the lines is not only on the asphalt, but their silhouette also penetrated into the cab of my truck.

It occurred to me that if I started following the shadows, very quickly I too would cross back-and-forth over the road, eventually ending up off of it completely. If I follow the creases in the asphalt, I could have the same problem. Following the stripes in the middle, obviously not on top of them but rather next to them, is the safe way. That is why the stripes are there; they serve with a specific purpose, not as a “general guideline.”

I can have all kinds of opinions about whether I am going to follow these rules of the road or not.   My thoughts don’t change the value that the markers present. When you consider that the drivers of the cars coming the other way have those same options, it sure gets complicated (and dangerous) doesn’t it? My attitude about the stripe does not change its color, location, or function.

It is being said that America is off the road. All of God’s ten, simple commandments are being ignored by far too many of our citizens.   They were not meant to be “general guidelines.” The purpose of a law, for instance “thou shall not commit adultery,”   was to sustain and encourage intact families, which over the millennia has proven to be the best form of family structure.

Many of our sons and daughters have been taught to look at the law and morality as something which does not deserve the question, “Is this right?” but rather is replaced by the question, “Will I get caught?” More than eighty percent of the cars on the roadways speed and five percent of them at a pace which seriously endangers others. Seventy percent of those on the road after 8:00 pm are illegally driving under the influence. This year for the first time, the cause of deaths in vehicle accidents from drugs (46%) was higher that caused by alcohol (38%.)   When the speed limit was 55 on the freeways, people went 65. We raised it to 65/70 and people are going 75/90. You can see that raising the speed limit to 80 will create a culture of those going 90 to 100. You don’t get more law-compliant citizens by changing the regulations to accommodate their bad behavior.

Jesus said, “For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.” The track that we think we should follow may not be the truth. We must turn to His words in order to understand what is correct. Laws are not given to punish but rather to guide us into safe conduct.   The stripe in the road is there for our protection, but our trajectory is one which we choose.