From time to time I will repost an article from years past. This article was originally posted March 2013
Last weekend I took part in a funeral. It all went very well until it came time for the interment.
Getting to the cemetery meant a twenty minute drive through the city and in the country.
Only family and close friends attended, while most others opted not to take the drive … probably a good thing because they never would have made it.
You see, most people don’t follow other cars very well, driving too far behind the person they’re following.
It’s like they’ve watched too many TV detective shows. They try to follow so the lead car doesn’t know they’re on their tail.
I once had a person follow me to a destination they had never been to, yet they kept going slower and slower and falling farther and farther behind.
At first, I slowed down to make sure they wouldn’t lose me, but then they slowed down even more! Finally, I just decided to drive and let them keep up to me.
They never made it; they got lost and went home.
In a funeral procession, people really need to drive close to the car they’re following, especially through intersections.
Personally, I like to get close to the car in front of me so the vehicles traveling in the other direction see that I’m part of a procession and don’t T-bone me when the light changes green for them.
Those other drivers on the road can be a real problem. Most of them act like they have no clue what’s going on.
They see the hearse, the flashing lights, the long line of cars with little flags on their hoods like it’s a diplomatic motorcade, and they STILL try to jump into line like they want to be part of the parade!
After all, their shopping trip to the mall has been timed down to the last minute. They didn’t calculate running into a funeral procession.
There was a time when cars pulled over to the side of the road when they came upon a funeral procession – like we’re supposed to do with emergency vehicles.
But then again, some people are not good at that either. I’m not sure whether people drive without looking around or whether they just don’t understand the unwritten rules of the road.
When our procession of cars got out of the city, some cars pulled over to the side of the road, and two ladies who were walking stopped and just stood as the line of funeral cars went by.
But most cars just kept going and even drove around the cars that had pulled over. These people were both young and old – I know because I looked at them, trying to stare them down!
We finally made it to the cemetery, with no accidents, and only missing one car. One with several of the family members in it.
They arrived late because a car cut into the line and then didn’t go through and intersection with the rest of the procession.
Going home from the cemetery only took about 10 minutes … there were no funeral processions to stop for.
Here’s the thing: In a funeral procession, you need to keep up and others need to pay attention. If you don’t keep up, other cars don’t know there is anything to pay attention to. In your Christian walk you need to keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). So that others will pay attention and see a difference.
That’s Life!
Paul
Question: What do you find difficult about following someone? Leave your comment below.
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