Sunday Morning XII

"Sing praises unto the Lord Our God!" (Bet-cha that means, like, use your voice to actually . . . SING! )

I was never more aware of this Bible teaching than this past summer coming through Portland, OR.

Oh, I've always known that music crosses the barriers of language, differing cultures, and creates harmony where before there was none.

But Portland traffic made a believer out of me that the power of song can perform miracles!

Where to start? Perhaps with the knowledge that I am a confident driver who has logged many road miles. Transportation machines have the power to fascinate me, so I have "driven" most of them: small and large cars, motorcycles, mopeds, SUV's, semi-trucks, snowmobiles, tractors, combines, power and sail boats/ships, planes (tricycle wheels and tail draggers) and even a small jet.

Yep! If it moves, more than likely, I have experimented with its operation.

But driving a large RV through major cities terrorizes me. It always has, even, way-back-when, metropolises sported only two-and-three lane traffic.

Imagine then, driving through Portland, OR or Sacramento, CA where eight-and-more lanes are the norm!

My 35-foot RV, which up until that moment, has operated perfectly and carried me safely over thousands of miles, suddenly becomes an instrument of death.

My body sits rigidly, fingers are white-knuckled from gripping the steering wheel in a death grasp, and my eyes dart everywhere.

I forget to breathe.

I should mention, at this juncture, that a phobia has plagued me for a lifetime. It's a fear of tunnels. There's probably a fancy name for tunnel-fear but all I know is, when driving through one, my mind stops working. Everything is a total blank from the moment of entry until the moment of exit.

Now you have the picture. Eight lanes of traffic are trying to squeeze into two-or-three lanes of roadway on a blind curve which suddenly decides to traverse through a tunnel.

I figured my chances of survival were slim, considering a lifetime habit of CLOSING MY EYES when transiting through tunnels.

However, shortly before entering this one, my eyes managed to see a wee sign that read: "Sing praises unto Our Lord God." A Smiley-Face was attached to the billboard.

Oftentimes, I take things quite literally.

So with closed eyes and eight lanes of traffic converging upon me, I heartedly sang as many cheerful spiritual songs as I could remember until sunlight on the other side reassured me it was safe to open my eyes. ( It's amazing how many spiritual songs one can remember if the tunnel is long enough! ) With God piloting the rig, my Yorkie puppy and I had made it through safely.

So I offer this advice: if life is too full right now, or currently seems just so troublesome that you can't find it in your heart to sing joyuous praises unto Our Lord God (whatever or whomever You considered God to be ), AT LEAST SING LOUDLY WHILE TRAVELING THROUGH TUNNELS !!!

The vehicle beside you might be me! You know I won't see you while my eyes are closed and we both need all the help we can get until we reach the other side . . . .
Chaeli