Driving lessons

This month has included a momentous event for my family: my youngest son got his official "Limited Learner's Permit," granting him the privilege of driving with an adult supervisor as he prepares to get his full driver's license next year.

Be still, my heart.  Is my baby boy really old enough to drive?

Lee behind the wheel, photographed by his dad from the passenger seat

Lee and I have had interesting conversations as he has been learning to drive.  As we've reviewed North Carolina's driving laws, he's been perplexed that so many drivers don't follow those laws.  For instance, North Carolina law requires that drivers turn on their headlights any time the weather conditions require use of their windshield wipers.  "Lots of people don't do that," Lee observed.

I explained that using your headlights in bad weather is not for your benefit, but for the benefit of the other drivers on the road.  And I realized that people don't obey this law because they don't really get this underlying principle.  Although they may not go through the entire thought process each time they get behind the wheel, they've thought about it at some point.  A driver's declining to turn on his or her headlights shows that he or she figures there's no reason to use the headlights unless there's a direct benefit to him or her. Which means that the driver is caught up in thinking about what's good for him or her, not about what's good for all drivers on the road.

Examples of the principle of considering the good of others abound in the Driver's Manual:

--Use turn signals to let other drivers know your intentions.
--Turn on low-beam headlights in fog.
--Don't pass on a double yellow line.

Some of these laws seem very restrictive when viewed solely from the standpoint of the driver.  But when you consider that all drivers need to think about what's best for everyone concerned, they make a lot more sense.  For instance, my turning on my low-beam headlights in fog doesn't really help me a lot--my visibility is not affected much by my headlights.  But in that instance, my headlights are not for my direct benefit.  Instead, they allow other drivers to see my car.  Of course, I benefit INdirectly when other drivers can see my car and thus don't run into me.

Aha!  Isn't that the way life is supposed to work?  Turning from the Driver's Manual to the Scriptures (Matthew 22 and Mark 12, for instance), I'm reminded that God designed us to live our lives in love, keeping in mind what is good for everyone concerned, not just what's good for ourselves.  

Poor drivers.  It seems that no one is teaching some of them the underlying principle of love for others.  What do you think?

I'm joining Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now
and Inspiration Friday At the Picket Fence.