Sharing the Road With Big Rigs

Note new blog name

On the Road

Our local news station has an ongoing report about truck safety, mainly the under-ride guards or DOT bumpers on the trailers meant to keep crashing cars from sliding under them. They found bent and broken ones that would probably not have done their jobs on impact.

Having a brother who drives trucks on long-haul trips, I’d have liked to have seen the report delve deeper into the reasons why unsafe trucks are on the road. The majority of drivers work for companies who own the trucks. While a driver may keep the same cab for extended periods, trailers can be changed with every delivery. They often pick up empty trailers with no control over what condition they may be in.

Yet according to the Department of Transportation laws, safety infractions go on the driver’s record. Drivers receive only a small stipend if held over waiting for a repair and a great deal of income is lost for every day they are kept off the road.

Why aren’t the owners being held to task to maintain their equipment? My brother once went weeks without a window defroster, held over at least three times with minimal pay before the repairs were finally done correctly. He’s had much the same experience with other repairs. No wonder drivers don’t want to waste the time. Who is ensuring fair business practices and a living wage for the drivers?

Car Drivers

We car drivers must also own responsibility for coexisting on the road. A truck takes longer to stop than most people realize (in good weather it takes the length of a football field to stop when going sixty-five mph), especially if it’s carrying a heavy load. Pull in front of a truck and suddenly stop—they won’t. They can’t. Who hasn’t come up against the frustration of a laden truck crawling up a hill then barreling down the other side and up on your bumper after you passed it? Drivers can’t change the physics of big rigs, but we can all be aware and considerate of one another.

Would like to hear others’ stories and points of view.

The Point of the Gospel--The Birth of John and Jesus

John the Baptist is Born {Luke}

Elizabeth gave birth and on the eighth day afterward, according to tradition, the baby was to be named and circumcised. (Circumcision was a sign God ordered in the time of Abraham to signify the special relationship between Him and His people.) Relatives and neighbors celebrated with Elizabeth and expected her to name the baby after his father. When she declared his name to be John, they asked Zechariah what he wished and he wrote down “his name is John.” Zechariah immediately began to speak and praised God. Everyone wondered who this child would be as God had obviously touched his life.

Jesus is Born {Luke}

Caesar Augustus (ruler of Rome) ordered all citizens to register in their town of origin for a census. As Joseph descended from King David, he and Mary went to Bethlehem. With no room in the inn, Mary gave birth in the stable, wrapped her son in cloths, and placed him in a manger.

Shepherds guarded flocks of sheep in nearby fields. An angel appeared, and the glory of the Lord shone about them, terrifying the shepherds. He reassured them. “I bring good news for everyone. A savior has been born, Christ the Lord. As a sign that what I tell you is true, you will find him lying in a manger.”

A great number of angels suddenly appeared and praised God. “Glory to God in the highest and peace to men on earth.”

The angels returned to heaven and the shepherds went and found the child. Afterward, they spoke about their experience to people who were amazed at the story. Mary treasured all these things in her heart, wondering about them.

Next time in the Point of the Gospel—Luke and Matthew’s conflicting stories of the days following Jesus’ birth.

Slavery, Civil War and the Human Condition

World Events and the Human Condition

On the Ukraine—it could be wished that all other countries would stay out of their affairs and let them work things out for themselves. It’s impossible for everyone there to get everything they want but compromise is less likely if outsiders promise they can. Perfect example of the age-old human struggle—is it more important to be right or to cooperate toward peace? “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

The kidnapped girls in Nigeria—slavery and rape are justified responses to a girl wanting to learn? Improving one’s knowledge is cause for a holy war, a jihad? It’s easy to be furious at the kidnappers. Those who believe they are righteous, never swayed by self-interest, and therefore sufficiently wise to judge and set punishment on everyone else are lost to their own lack of knowledge.

 If one is a person of faith, everything learned is filtered through that faith. Thinking what you learn will somehow detract from your beliefs seems a grave fear that your faith is weak. I’ll pray for the kidnappers’ enlightenment, comfort for the parents, and the safe release of those poor children.

On a Positive Note

I see and hear about things people do every day that are filled with caring. I know little about poetry but I see no reason not to celebrate the goodness I see how I feel it.

Sing

                                          Sing to clouds so low you might touch them

                                          Sing to blue skies you wish you could paint

                                          Play to soft, flower-laden breezes

                                          Play to moonbeams tickling the earth

                                          Sing of the eternal masked in a kindness and

                                          Rainbow-colored dewdrops sparkling with mirth

Next time in the Point of the Gospel—John and Jesus are born.

Whimsical Nonfiction Story

Jumping Spider

Arachnophobia is a sterile, tame word. Spiders terrify me. Their multiple eyes, poisonous fangs, and propensity for literally sucking out the life of prey give me the shivers. I have gotten better over the years. I can tolerate a quarter inch and smaller. Any bigger I meet outside, I can walk—all right—run away from. In the house—they have to go. And sorry, I’m not catching and releasing them. They get squashed.

I met one spider once I supposed I anthropomorphized into a descendent of Arachne’s, the young woman in Greek mythology doomed to become an eight-legged spinner of silk for having the hubris to challenge Athena to a weaving contest. This spider appeared suddenly on the arm of my lawn chair, not the least intimidated by my superior size. Her wide-legged, bulldoggish stance seemed a stubborn challenge.

“Now that I’ve gotten all the way up here, I dare you to remove me.”

Since I don’t intentionally get near spiders and am most unhappy when they come near me, I sacrificed gracefulness to scramble from the chair. No bigger than a nickel, I studied her from a safe distance. I’d never seen one like it. Black and hairy, yellow and orange dotted its back. A kind of repressed energy emanated from it impatiently waiting to burst out. She was no web builder. The strong legs looked fashioned for stalking.

Her manner declared, “Why waste time building a web, vulnerable to the elements, when I can just jump ‘em?” I could see this feisty little spider marching over the ground, spying her prey, and pouncing with an exultant, “Gotcha!”

I actually began to like this character and stepped closer. A slight twitch of her body warned me she might be capable of jumping the remaining length between us. I stopped romanticizing and hastily backtracked.

A half-filled glass of lemonade smashed down and my brother grabbed the chair. The little spider’s hunting days were over.

It amazes me decades later, when I wander into rooms and wonder why I’m there, that I still have a vivid memory of that lawn chair with its green and white plastic strips and metal arms, warm sun, grass, and a hairy black spider with pretty spots.

Scientific Fact

Jumping spiders are one of the most numerous species of arachnids and are found all over the world. While they don’t spin webs, they do use strands of silk to anchor themselves when they jump as backup in case they miss their mark. They show a surprising amount of strategy when stalking prey considering their small brains, behavior scientists haven’t yet figured out. Mmm, might make an interesting scifi story.

The Point of the Gospel--Joseph

Joseph {Matthew and Luke}

(Matthew traces Joseph’s lineage back to Abraham to convince the Jews of Jesus’ legitimate claim to being the Messiah, despite immediately after stating that Mary’s pregnancy originated from the Holy Spirit. Joseph wasn’t the father, which in those days, Mary being betrothed to him—more than an engagement and requiring a divorce to end it—could have gotten Mary stoned to death for adultery. Luke, not Jewish, states it was only thought that Joseph fathered Jesus. He brings the genealogy all the way back to Adam to emphasize that Jesus came for all people.)

Joseph was betrothed to Mary. When he discovered her pregnancy, he decided to divorce her quietly and not hold her up to public condemnation. An angel came to Joseph in a dream to encourage him to go ahead with the marriage as the child Mary carried was from the Holy Spirit and would save his people from sin. (Matthew says Joseph married her before Jesus’ birth. Luke says the couple were pledged to be married. Both agree Joseph had no physical relationship with his betrothed until after Jesus’ birth.)

Personal Thoughts: We humans are good at seeing what we want to believe is true. Even the writers of the Gospel differed. I know many believe Scripture is sacred and not prone to human prejudice or error. Personally, I consider that the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and anything said or written by people, influenced thought they may be by the Holy Spirit, should be used as a guide with a grain of salt.

Consider Genesis. God created the light and separated it from the darkness. There was evening and morning—the first day. We all know the earth becomes light or dark as it rotates toward or away from the sun. God made two great lights, the bigger (sun) to create day and the lesser (moon) for light at night, on the fourth day.

If you believe God created the physical principles by which the universe works then this makes no sense. Of course, believers say, God can do anything He likes, but what purpose would be served to go around His own creation? It’s a simple mistake made by the writer(s) who didn’t understand physics. My point being: where there’s one mistake, there’s more. Read the Bible as a guide but let the Holy Spirit be your truth.

More on The Point of the Gospel next Friday.