Dear White Car Dude...

Dear white car dude,

First of all, lest I be accused of the whole "speck in your eye / plank in my eye" thing, I do regret laying on the horn as you flew past me this morning. There was some small justification in such an action, but it allowed frustration to rule my response, and caused my last few minutes with my wife before dropping her off at the office to be tense, which is wrong. I confess, that was a bad response on my part.

Now, let's see about that speck...

White car dude - that's so clumsy... mind if I just call you Dude? Thanks awfully.

Dude, what concerns me isn't the single act of blasting around me, over the double yellow line, in excess of the 35 mph speed limit (and to be fair, I WAS doing about 33 at the time) and flying up Bradford to the entrance to Cornerstone. (By the way - do you have any idea how many people ditch their cars each year around the corner at Leffingwell and Bradford? Look it up sometime - more than you'd expect.) No, what concerns me is that it was just the first in a series of actions I observed.

In retrospect, I'm guessing you thought I was one of the senior folks who make their way to the Heart Center or one of the medical offices, perhaps a kindly older person heading to Calvary. I'm guessing you didn't think you'd fly around two Cornerstone alumni (and staff members) who've been driving around that corner more years than you've been alive, but I pretty well knew who was following me before you launched. Out of state license plates, excessive speed, disregard for rules - I really hate it when prejudices are proven right.

So I saw you zoom around me over the double yellow line, well in excess of the 35 mph limit, fly up to the driveway, head onto campus like a bat out of... Florida, turn the wrong way on the roundabout, go backwards in the Gainey lot (right past the Do Not Enter signs), try to cram your car into a space that was too small but very close, finally come to rest in the "space that is NOT a space" by Food Service, and saunter into Bolthouse, chatting away on your cell. No backpack or books in evidence, so no excuse such as being terminally late for class for example. As I said, it wasn't the one act but the entire series that caused me to have a few questions...

Beside the obvious, "what the HECK were you thinking," of course. And for the record, I'm guessing this wasn't your first excursion into the world of extreme driving. Just a hunch there.

Dude, again and again we hear the student body telling the powers that be how they are adults, how they should be allowed more adult activities and behaviors, since they are adults and can handle (yea, even deserve) the aforementioned adult activities because they are, after all, adults. So, how did your actions on this particular Friday morning at around 9:20am reinforce this claim?

Ok - that might have been a little snarky. Try these questions on for size instead...

What statement did you make to us about your worldview and core beliefs in this list of choices?

(One scenario to ponder - what if I was indeed a senior, on my way to the Heart Center, and when you blasted past over the double yellow line you lost control on the slippery road and took me out on your way by? How does worldview fit into that?)

What part does your faith and walk with Jesus play in your actions? As I said, my response of anger and frustration was slightly justified but still wrong, and I admit my own guilt, taking stumbling steps on my own walk of faith.

When you walked past me on your way into Bolthouse, chatting away, and made full eye contact, what thoughts passed through your mind? I'm a dufus? You're a dufus? What's for lunch today? Did any of this series of choices even cross your mind, or was it over and done, no wiser for the wear because, after all, nobody got hurt and I didn't get caught?

And this one's for all of us - can we honestly say that we are faithful in the small things, and can be trusted with greater things? I know I can't - but I'm working on it...

White car dude, with the out of state license plates (geographical hint: East, way east), it's not my job to judge or even speculate. But being a fallen creature in need of redemption myself, I do wonder. And I find myself a little sad, because while I don't expect all Cornerstone students to be little angels and model citizens who live out the truth of God's Word in every aspect and corner of their lives, I do hope that they (and we) are making progress on that path, both in the big and the small things, the lesser and the greater.

Godspeed, white car dude. And at least think about backing it down a notch, 'k?