September 19, 2025

TRUST AND COMPLACENCY

Ali went to France for two weeks so I have a car to do my streets for two weeks. I have only missed one day so far, unless I do not get out there today, then it will be two days. Tomorrow will be the day I took she and Shayna to the airport in the late afternoon.
I have met a number of people on my time spent srossing streets and chasing down alleys. One of the most interesting was Neil, a 92 year old man out walking with this sticks. He broke a hip and was not going to let it turn him into a vegatable on the couch. He was an importer by trade, mostly in the fresh fish markets. Jimmy, one of the worship leaders at church is in the same business.
My watch is getting to be a problem. It has died while I was still on the course for the day. I now have to go back and drive some of the areas I completed after it stopped recording. But there is some good news, Garmin did have the band for my 310xt so I can stop carrying it in my pocket and in my hand. The charger is still a problem but that is not insumountable.
I started running in the street years ago, I mean actually in the street, alongside the parked cars. I found the GPS, when using the sidewalk, would not have me covering the street but a short distance off the street. While going along a rather busy street, I thought about how when we are driving through an intersection, we trust the travelers crossing the street from the side are obeying the rules of the road so we make it through the intersection without incident.
This thought came home to me as I worked my way home, traversing intersections, going through when the light was green, sometimes turning yellow, but always trusting the cross traffic was following the same rules of the road I was using. And yet, while I was trusting, I did not become complacent.
I have been driving for 66 years. The first two lessons I learned from my mother as I learned what each pedal did and what foot to use for each pedal, were: 1) Keep the line feeding into the fender, and 2) Always be a defensive driver. The second one means I am not to become complacent in my trust the cross traffic is toeing the line before the red light facing them. I am to be aware of my surroundings, the cars in front of me, the cars in back of me and the cars beside me, along with any traffic waiting to become moving traffic at a stop sign or a light. I will admit that most of this has become sedond nature by now. I notice when someone is encroaching on my lane and getting a little too close for comfort. I see the one who thinks a light turning red just means you better hurry and hope there is no car with a siren attached watching.
I believe that trusting and staying complacent works into more than just driving. Proverbs 3:5,6 is quoted every once in while by this old codger, which talks about the trusting part, with the result your path will be made straight. There are plenty of places in Scripture where I might lead you, but the verses in the Garden when Jesus asks the disciples to watch and He catches them asleep and basically chews them out strikes me as appropriate. The disciples were so complacent, they went to sleep, which is what we do when we give up our vigilance in stopping the temptations overtaking us into sin.
So, as that line feeds into the fender and I drive in a defensive posture, I run with the parked cars feeding into the shoulder and defensive lookout for danger, I trust in the Lord with all my heart so He will make my paths straight and as a double bonus, sin will bypass me and my lines will be straight on my city strides map. And I will give you one guess which bonus is the most important!