While mowing the lawn this week I saw the neighbors across the street drive up to their house. The mom got out of the driver’s seat, the son out of the passenger seat, and they both carried bags of groceries inside. I don’t know the age of the boy but he’s as tall as me, and I wondered: If he’s of driving age, then why wasn’t he driving? I sure would have been.
I know recent generations of teens have not been as excited about driving as we were, and I understand some of the reasons for that. They grew up in the back seat of the car instead of the front, and they grew up with devices in their hands that are more entertaining than looking out the window at the traffic. Why drive when you can be streaming videos and texting with your friends?
We didn’t have those diversions when I was a kid, and I’ve always been a restless passenger, so I couldn’t wait to drive. In fact, I started too soon. While I was still taking driver’s ed, my brother tossed me the keys a few times and not only let me drive but asked me to drive. The problem was he was only 18 months older, and while he had a license, he wasn’t old enough to sit in the passenger seat as a “responsible adult.” But I jumped at the chance and was doing fine until one Sunday afternoon when I was driving us home from a youth activity at the church and we passed our parents on the road headed back to church for the evening. Busted!
This came to mind when seeing the neighbors, because the first time I got to drive solo legally was to the grocery store. Mom asked me to go pick up a few things for dinner and I almost jumped out of my shoes. I remember whooping and hollering to and from the store, never mind the fact I was driving a totally uncool lime green Ford Pinto. I was behind the wheel, alone, and I had arrived at one of the most important mile markers in growing up.
This past Sunday at Wilshire we honored our high school and college graduates. The high school grads likely became “street legal” a year or two ago and now they’ve reached the next mile marker on their journey: off to college or jobs of one type or another. They’ve traveled this far under the watchful eyes of parents, teachers and church family, and now most will be on their own in one way or another.
But, unlike the passengers in driverless Waymo cars we’re seeing more often on the streets of Dallas, they won’t be riding alone in the back seat. They’ll be behind the steering wheel, in control of their lives, and they’ll be equipped with everything they’ve learned up until this point.
What’s more, they’ll be accompanied by the Holy Spirit, the best guide available if they’ll just remember to access that resource. I’ll confess I’ve forgotten that many times over the years; I’ve rushed off down the road of life and gotten lost because I didn’t ask for help from the navigator who is always present but doesn’t bark directions from the passenger seat.
As I finish this, we’re headed to the Texas Panhandle for the high school graduation of Barrett, our great-nephew. He grew up on a large family farm where everybody pitches in at different times during the plant-grow-harvest cycle. That put him behind the wheel of trucks and other farm machinery long before he had a driver’s license, giving him a head start on driver safety but also life skills such as dependability, trust, focus, teamwork and being part of something bigger than yourself.
Barrett has plans for college next year and no doubt has an exciting journey ahead, no matter what he’s driving or where he’s going. And he knows he’s not traveling alone. None of us are.