Jesus is his Co-pilot

On my drive into work this morning there was this little blue whatchamacallit vehicle swerving in and out of traffic. It was weaving and changing lanes without turn signals and then was tailgating the cars in front of it. It was basically trying to force its way through the heavy traffic.  Once it got around me was when I saw it.

Emblazoned on the back of this little speedster was a large white Christian Cross. I thought to myself, “How would Jesus drive?” or, “HWJD”.  Being raised a Catholic, I found it a little hard to comprehend the almost bullying nature of the fella trying to force his way through traffic.  But then I remembered the 1500 years of Christian bullying throughout world history and it all made sense.

I’m not saying I’m anti-Catholic or anti any religion for that matter. I think it’s important to have faith and believe in the possibility of something greater than ourselves out (waving hands in front of myself) there. But I don’t like it when people use religion to justify poor behavior or as a crutch. I think Religion is a tool and like all tools it must be used properly to get the best results.

As this guy was speeding and weaving through traffic I wondered if he knew he would be all right because God was on his side, guiding his hands as he narrowly missed smashing into a car in the right lane. I wondered if his faith was so strong that he actually turned the responsibility of driving over to Jesus and tempted the Devil. I wondered as he passed cars on the shoulder if he was saying the Hail Mary or was passing out blessings to the cars he passed. I wondered if when he got to his destination he dropped to his knees and gave a very public thanks to his Lord and Savior. I doubt it. When something good happens, we did it. When something bad happens we ask, “Where was God then?”

I love that old phrase that goes, God always answers your prayers, sometimes he says, “No”.

I spoke with a woman once who assured me that God would guide me to an answer that would, of course, benefit her financially. I tried to explain to the woman that God, as much as I dig Him, would not be making the decision regarding her claim, but I would.  She had a very hard time believing this was the case and she was sure God would direct me to give her money. In the end, I did not give her money. Not because she was sure God would deliver her a large cash settlement, but because the facts did not support her claims and religion was completely unrelated to the incident. She was only using her beliefs to shore up her own misguided greed. That made me feel pretty dirty for sure.

I appreciate those that have a healthy faith and don’t use religion as a crutch. I know the things religion teaches are guidelines to lead a good and respectable life. I know they help us understand morality and what’s good and evil in the world, but I wouldn’t turn over my car to the hands of God in the hopes he’ll get me to work on time. That’s just irresponsible and frankly, Jesus wouldn’t drive your shitbox of a car. That’s not his style.