I believe

that automobiles were invented not only for

transportation, but also to test our character.

I have to

admit that I've had my patience tested a time or two with

these aggrevating vehicles. Take car repairs, for

instance. I invented the phrase "technologically

challenged." If anybody was ever mechanically

deprived, I'm it.

My dad did

teach me how to change a tire as I was beginning to

drive, just in case I ever needed to know. And I took a

six-week continuing education course on "how to

maintain your car." The only things I remember about

that long-ago evening course are how to clean corrosion

off of batteries with baking soda and water, and how to

change the oil.

I took a

lot of pride in being able to change my own oil. That was

one thing I could do. Then the manufacterers started

placing the oil filters up into the innerds of the engine

block where it takes a brain surgeon to get to them in

these little cars.

At least I

still change oil in our van. It's messy, but I gain a

real sense of satisfaction in "doing it

myself." I don't know about your experience, but

cars never tear up at convenient times. One of mine just

went on the blink, and I called the car place to tell

them I was hauling it in to them.

"What's

wrong with it?" the service manager asked. Since I

know so much about cars, I replied with confidence,

"It won't crank." Then I explained, "It

turns over so it's not the battery, and it's definitely

not the starter. I think it's fuel related. It's making a

really wierd noise. It was working fine before we went on

vacation, but it hasn't been used in a week."

"Is it

a four-cylinder or a V-6?" "Uh-h-h, I'm not

sure." (I think that has something to do with how

many spark plugs it has, doesn't it?)

Patience

can also be measured by how we behave when we get behind

the wheel. My first pastorate was in Indianapolis. The

Indy 500 is an annual event there. It's not just the big

race that happens every Memorial Day Sunday, but the Indy

500 also includes all the hoopla leading up to the race

itself.

Part of

that hoopla are the speed trials that determine the

placement of the drivers in the starting lineup. I kid

you not, driving on I-465 (the I-285 of Indianapolis)

during May became more and more hazardous as the race

drew nearer. Drivers got faster and more aggressive as

the month dragged on.

They were

in the Indy 500 spirit. You really had to watch the other

guy. Have you ever known anybody whose personality

changes when he or she drives? Driving brings out the

"crazy" in some people.

I've seen

socially timid persons get aggressive, cutting in and out

of traffic and tailgating in order to move the car in

front of them over. And what about "road rage?"

There's a movement in some states to require anger

management to be incorporated into driver's education.

Articles

are being written on how to avoid becoming a victim of

senseless acts of violence on our roadways. Topping the

suggestions are: never gesture back at angry drivers, and

never look the angry driver in the eye; just slow down,

let him proceed on his way, and try your best to be a

courteous driver.

Automobiles

not only test character, but also test our Christianity.

Sometimes the church parking lot becomes the testing

ground. I was amused several years ago at what a fellow

pastor wrote in his weekly newsletter column. Evidently,

there had been two minor "fender benders" in

the church parking lot the previous Sunday. Both drivers

left the scene without leaving a note of apology or a

phone number.

The pastor

wrote that one driver was known because someone recorded

his license plate number. The other driver was not

discovered, but the pastor wrote, "God knows who

both of you are." He went on to ask them to practice

their Christianity and make the situation right.

I ran

across a "Driver's Prayer" that might be

helpful for each of us to consider before we take our

next trip: "Lord, impress on me the great

responsibility that is mine when I get behind the wheel

of an automobile. Remind me that I have in my hands the

power of life and death, lest I become careless. Write

indelibly upon my consciousness that in one careless

moment, I could put an end to the lives of some innocent

victims, my family, or myself.

"Help

me to be thoughtful, patient, and in control of my

emotions as I drive. Help me to extend the same kindness

and consideration to other drivers that I will want them

to extend to me.

"Give

me, oh Lord, a sense of perspective. Let me never become

so foolish that I would ever take a chance with my own

life or with anyone else's just to save a few minutes.

You know, only too well, that heaven is filled with

people who made that mistake."

The Rev.

Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist

Church, Fayetteville.