charity begins at home...and in my car

okay, so i am surfing the 'net, enjoying some of my favorite places to visit. i am in that "summertime and the livin' is easy" mode - you know the one...it's all sunshine and ice cream and happy laughter when this little beauty zaps me back a few notches: Vatican issues ‘10 Commandments’ for drivers.


gulp.


did somebody tell Il Papa about my abhorrent behavior behind the wheel??


Oh, i am so busted! i confess...i needed this. i can be sweeter than a bucket of strawberries, fresh picked and sun-warmed. but...get me behind the wheel, following a driver going merely ONE MPH under the speed limit and i am like a one-woman hornets' nest poked with sticks.


driver pulling out in front of me...i become ugliness incarnate.


my "conversations" with other drivers border on qualifying me for a straight jacket and a "free vacation," if you catch my drift.


it is high time for a healthy dose of HUMILITY...no, the road is not my personal playground. no, the other drivers where not put there to befuddle me. no, i am not the only one late for something. but if you saw or heard me behind the wheel, you just might think any or all of these were true.


i promise, starting today, that i will start each drive with gratitude that i even have the luxury of making that journey in my car in the first place (3 miles, one way, on a curvy country road with no berm and other fast drivers is a LOOONNNG walk or bike for a gallon of milk!). i will ask to be a gift to all who i encounter on the way. i will ask for the patience to remain patient all the way through the journey. and i will ask to remember that each and every person carries a burden that only he knows...and to remember that the burden may be a heavy one when our paths cross - instead of a grumble, he just may need a prayer from me! afterall, the Vatican's document noted that praying while driving was encouraged.


(in case you may wonder...i've already been praying for safety each and every morning before ANY of us drives. teens with drivers' licenses will do that to you!!)