Driving Blind

In Texas it doesn't get cold very often.  When I lived in Utah I had several ice scrapers in my car, and a pair of mittens in the glovebox, and I always left early so I could warm up the car.  It's surprising how quickly I forgot those things when I moved to a hot climate.

Texas has two seasons, summer and January.  So one January morning I came out of the church after teaching early morning seminary and found my car windows frozen.  I remembered taking the time to defrost the windows when I came to the church, but I wanted to get home in a hurry so I decided not to wait for the car to warm up.

Ice scraper?  Negative.
Mittens?  Negative.
Time?  Negative.

I guess I'll move to plan D.  With the car heater on high I whipped out the trusty credit card.  Now my hands are freezing, and I figure the Texan sun will defrost my windows soon enough.  I need a quick solution, so I etched out a credit card sized hole in the frost and jumped in.

Sometimes in life things seem as clear as a clean windshield.  Like on my mission, I knew God's plan, and I knew my role.  When I was first married I knew what was important and how to treat it.  Then life somehow makes things cloudy.  Nephi described a "mist of darkness" (1 Nephi 8:23) which is sent by "Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men" (Moses 4:4).

With my mini view I can see a tiny square of the road ahead, and a sliver at the bottom where the defroster has cleared some space.  Don't worry, I know where I'm going.  I've driven from the church to my house hundreds of times.  All I need is to see whether there's a car ahead of me.  Confidently I backed out and zoomed forward.  This icy problem has made me a few minutes later, so even before I get out the parking lot I've gotten up to 20 mph.

When I came off my mission I meant to read my scriptures every day - I just got busy.  And after marriage I meant to say prayers in the morning, sometimes I just had a lot of work to do.  Before I know it my spiritual windshield is frosted over with worldly things.  I think that's why Jesus said, "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow" (Matthew 6:33-34).  To clear my spiritual slate I should take the time to pour myself into scriptures, prayer, and meditation.  But I'm so busy!  Instead I etch out a tiny verse of scripture, a half hearted prayer, and away I go.

As I zoom through the parking lot squinting at the exit 50 yards ahead from the sliver of space at the bottom of my windshield I see five feet ahead of my car something I forgot about.  The church parking lot has islands with a curb and grass in the middle.

The next second felt like a terrifyingly long time.

A spiritual crisis is so much worse.   There have been times when a trial comes, and I realize I don't have the spirit when I need it.  A monster speed bump in life and I've let my view of heaven get clouded over.  Why?  Because I was in too big of a hurry to read my scriptures and pray with real intent.

I slammed the brakes and the car left five foot skid marks down the parking lot.  The tires bounced against the curb, but no real damage was done to the vehicle.  I sat there for a few minutes catching my breath.  Then I got out and scraped every bit of frost off every window on that car.  By the time I got back in the car I was late, but I was safe for the drive home.

After my mission I realized I wasn't reading my scriptures the way I used to on my mission.  It's like the windshield to the Holy Ghost was clouded over.  If I was called at two in the morning to give a blessing, would I be spiritually ready?  One day after I was married I realized my work was taking priority over prayer.  I made goals to rededicate myself and the windows of heaven shined clear.  Sometimes I still get busy and forget to give the Lord my time, but then I see skid marks across the church parking lot and I remember the lesson that it's better to be safe than to be fast.