The Road Less Traveled

I love sitting in morning traffic on my way to work. Usually I have either the radio or a CD playing. On the rare occasion, I’ll eat breakfast on the way to work, too. Perhaps what I enjoy the most about the morning drive is watching the other drivers. I am so amused by how some people seem hurried, almost as if the very law of the 35 mph doesn’t apply to them, just so we can all wind up halted by the same traffic light. There is an unspoken law that almost everybody understands and follows. I like to call it, “The This Lane Is Backed Up for a Reason Rule.”

On my way to work, I must drive down a four lane road which has, conveniently, a 15 mph school zone smack in the middle (AKA Vaughn Road, for you Montgomerians.) The left lane of the east-bound traffic will inevitably be stopped because someone wants to turn left into the school parking lot. To further complicate matters, there will be so much oncoming traffic that it prevents said person from turning in a timely manner. Therefore, it is the unspoken law of rush hour traffic that everybody must get in the right lane to avoid those who might want to turn. Everybody who has ever driven that way in the morning just knows: This Lane Is Backed Up for a Reason.

This morning, a driver with an out-of-state license plate not only decided to clearly ignore the posted speed limit, but also chose to ignore the aforementioned rule. I suppose he thought himself smart, passing all of the slowly-moving vehicles. However – wouldn’t you know it – there were at least four cars waiting to turn left into the school parking lot! He had to sit and wait for who knows how long, all because he didn’t know the rule.

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (NKJV)

Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (NKJV)

It is commonly accepted that the mother of learning is “repetition, repetition, repetition.” I think this verse is repeated for that very reason. So we’ll learn and know better. The first thing about which I am reminded by these verses is the fact that a lot of people profess to be Christians, but not all those people are going to make it into heaven in the end (Matthew 7:21).

Secondly, and on a more personal level, these verses remind me that sometimes it’s a good idea for me to keep my mouth closed. There have been times when I have said things I’m sure I shouldn’t have said. I think we all have regretted our words at one time or another; it’s human nature. These verses remind me that just because I think it’s a good idea to share something with someone else…maybe it’s not, really. Maybe next time I need to think about these verses and that one person in rush hour traffic who thinks he’s doing the right thing.

Are you doing what you think and feel is right, or are you doing what you know is right?