THE HIRE-A-RIDE FROM HELL

“You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.” (Jeremiah 16:12 NASB)

Last Saturday my wife and I took a hire-a-ride service to get from downtown to our house. Our driver was punctual and a perfect driver, from a technical perspective. But his conversation could not conceal the things that had been cemented, ingrained in his mind by his forefathers during his indoctrination and socialization as a child. I thought of him as the hire-a-ride from hell!

His prejudicial comments put down Haitians, “Mexicans” (The quotation marks indicate that he put every Spanish-speaking person under that same classification.), business persons who were too uppity because they did not engage in talk (Note: They did not hire him for conversation, but just conveyance from one place to the other.), and he even talked about the area where the church I pastor is located, calling the people in the neighborhood “trashy.” No more thinking about him as the hire-a-ride from hell, he definitely was the one who fit the title. Incidentally, my wife, born in northern Indiana is a Mexican American. I joked with her when we got home and I said, “Congratulations! You obviously were perceived to be an African American like yours truly!”

The driver, he talked the whole ride! His verbiage included four letter words and a combination of what we would call “expletives.” Didn’t I tell you he was the hire-a ride from hell?”

As he talked, I tried to change the conversation to learn about his background, the school he attended, the location of his present home, and even about church. As we got closer to our home, we passed the street that leads to our church. It was in the area that he had informed us that “trashy people” lived. My wife jumped on the opportunity to bring up church, one more time. She said, “Our church is just two blocks down this street.” The driver, after what I would call stunned silence, tried to amend his earlier statement, saying in so many words that we lived north of the area he had reserved in his mind as a place for “trashy people.”

When we got to our house my wife asked the driver, perhaps God put in our path of life to test us, “Do we tip you now or on the app?” I think he felt guilty because he said, “Oh, you don’t have to give me a tip.” If I were in my younger days, before Jesus was in my life, I would have said “Expletive, right!” But I did not. We both said “Goodbye,” and told him that we hoped he would have a good evening.

My main point of this meditation is that children are easily influenced and indoctrinated and easily, unconsciously and consciously shaped by the norms, morals, and attitudes of those who are in their family and friends arena as a young child. Our lesson: Watch what you do and say, because your children and others will internalize those same behaviors. Instead, do as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. suggested, “Choose love over hate. It takes too much to hate.”

As I shared my experience in Sunday School the next morning, Sis. Mildred equipped me with one more point to stress. She said, “Maybe he took something away from how you two treated him and he would examine his behavior, even to the point that he would want what we have.” We have Christ! Therefore, we treat others as we would like to be treated.”

Well, since 650 words equals one page of a normal book, I have said enough, more than enough. Still, I hope you got something out of what I shared, as well as something from the scriptures above and below. Have a great day! Let the Christ in you reign throughout the day! Hmmm! Maybe tomorrow I will write about, “Let It Reign!” Smile! (But I’m not kidding!) Have a great day! Be blessed!

“This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you’re about to cross into to possess. This is so that you’ll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I’m commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives. Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey. Attention, Israel! God, our God! God the one and only! Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:1-9 The Message Bible)

Committed to the climb,

Mark L. King