Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

• Leviticus 19:18

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

• Deuteronomy 6:5

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

• Matthew 22:34-40

“‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

• Leviticus 19:33-34

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

• Deuteronomy 10:17-19

And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.”

• Isaiah 56:6-7

I took a trip to Tennessee recently.  My land lady says that she wants me out of the house in about two years.  I have tried to sort things out.  I have already thrown away useful crafting supplies because no one will accept it as a donation.  But my trash volume has tripled.

But this trip was to visit grandchildren, donate a few things, and sell some books at a used bookstore (also DVD, video games, board games, etc.).  They are more generous and educated regarding the value of rare books.  Note: Some used bookstores give you money only when the author is still alive unless it is on a short list of well known authors, such as Agatha Christie.

But on the way down to Tennessee, I was in a very interesting pocket of traffic.  Everyone was driving about ten miles over the speed limit, and I made great time.  But there were moments when I was slowed down.  I thought about the Greatest Commandment and the other greatest commandment equal to it.  We should love God and love one another.

There is a “rule” that the high-speed lane, or the lane to the far left in the USA, is used only to pass.  But then you have so many trucks that drive slowly up hill in the right lane that sometimes, you simply do not wish to get into the right lane and be stuck behind the trucks.

So, there is a lot of traffic in the high-speed lane until you get past a congested area.

That is all understandable.

But some people do not yield to the person that has been trapped between trucks.  I follow at a safe following distance, and these trapped drivers think that I am allowing them entrance.  I might have to slow down a little while they get up to speed, but that is what a courteous driver should do.

But then, other people will speed up to close off that gap and prevent the trapped motorists from getting into the faster traffic flow.

But I have seen a lot of people drive exclusively in the left lane at a set speed.  When I do that through heavy traffic, I speed up when passing so that there is not a vehicle in each lane going roughly the same speed.  I noticed one driver, in the late rush hour around Louisville, KY on the Gene Snyder expressway.  They were going roughly the speed limit in the left lane.  They never got out of the lane and for about twenty miles never changing their speed.  But then they changed their tactic, we suddenly slowed by ten miles per hour less than before.  Now the line of traffic behind them grew and grew.  It took a while before I realized what they were doing.  They had slowed to the exact speed of the people in the other lane.  Both lanes filled with angry drivers. Trying to get to work on time.  But then, the slow driver in the right lane overtook an even slower driver.  The driver in front of me slowed down even further to the slower speed of the other slow driver.  At this point, we were going about thirty miles per hour less than the maximum speed, very close to the required minimum speed of the expressway.  People were definitely going to be late for work.

Why?  Did they feel empowerment by being the cork that prevented people from getting to work on time?

Then, I had a similar situation that afternoon.  The car that never left the left lane would adjust their speed to match the slow moving trucks in the right lane, a lot of trucks.  When they got to a gap between trucks, you had a decision to make.  There was barely enough room to get between the trucks and then try to pass.  This was what the driver wanted you to try.  You would get into the trap and then they would cut you off.  The lead vehicle sped up at the last minute to block you from passing them.  Then, they slowed back to the truck’s speed, roughly – only overtaking going up hill.

Again, no good reason to be mean, but the line behind them was miles long, filling with stressed drivers that were too far behind to notice what caused the problem.

But then there were the times when there would be three traffic lanes.  The people corking the traffic flow could not block multiple lanes, and the angry people behind them would speed, far over the speed limit to free themselves of the trap.  But why tailgate at that point.  With the speed limit of 70, the drivers would be driving at nearly 100 miles per hour and following the car in front of them by 4-5 feet.  In NASCAR, they do that.  It is called drafting, but they know what they are doing.  And still, there are massive accidents.  The big difference is that the safety devices and safety cages are much better in NASCAR.  A three second following distance is best as a minimum, knowing that invites the crazy tailgaters to cut you off.

And then there is the strange person who has tunnel vision.  They drive in their lane at high speed until they reach the bumper (literally) of the car in front of them.  Then they change lanes without assessing the situation.  Maybe the slower car in front of them is going faster than the car in the other lane.  But that does not keep them from changing lanes, just to change back in the other direction, time and time again.  They are actually giving up their place in line and losing ground, but because they only see one thing, the car in front of them, they think they are doing their commute in the fastest manner.  But all the lane changes, many without looking to see if it was safe, the slightest change would lead to a major accident.

I say this to say there are crazy drivers out there.  And everyone is thinking about getting somewhere.  Few are thinking that everyone else just wants to get somewhere also.

And it is much better to get there five minutes later than you planned because you were courteous to the other drivers on the road.

Our world is getting more “me”-centered every day, and the highway is a dangerous place made even more dangerous by people who only consider themselves.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.