Bumper sticker religion — Jesus is coming, look busy!
Striving to be found at peace in this turbulent world with much on our minds
One can get a good sense of the road another travels with the information offered up on a vehicular bumper sticker: nationality, favourite team, 12-step program alliance, sexual orientation, pet preference, faith, lack of faith, belief in humanity, belief that humanity is doomed, family make-up and more. Some of them make me laugh and some concern me with their violent content.
For example, if you plaster those little stick people to the back of your vehicle announcing whether you like shopping or your kid plays hockey you may encounter an awkward intersection when you meet the folks with the little stick truck running over your fake kin accompanied by the text, “I don’t care about your stick family.”
While I care about your real family more than your stick family, I want to assure you I won’t drive any better because you have a “Baby on Board.” I love babies, toddlers, teens and adults equally so I’ll do my best no matter who your bumper sticker tells me is a passenger.
A quick scan of religious bumper stickers reveals without surprise, it is mainly Jesus lovers who adhere to this practice of advertising their beliefs on their automobiles (for a multitude of reasons fit for another column).
The person who dons “Jesus loves you — I am trying,” is a little more humble than the one who sticks with “Jesus loves you but I’m His favourite.”
People who seem to care about your driving offer this helpful reminder: “I bet Jesus would have used His turn signal.”
A little more severe but brilliant warning calls out, “Honk if you love Jesus — text while driving if you want to meet Him.”
In the U.S. of A., some use Jesus to back their politics in greater detail than the usual and sweeping, “God bless America.”
An example from the good old days when the president wasn’t an alleged sexual predator is, “Obama is not a foreign-born, brown skinned, anti-war socialist who gives away healthcare — you’re thinking of Jesus.” Drivers of smaller cars might have used this abbreviated version, “Obama is not Jesus — Jesus could build a cabinet.”
My favourite bumper sticker of the Jesus kind is, “Jesus is coming — look busy!”
It reminds me of the message of the Advent season, the season of waiting that wraps up today as we lean into the 12 days of Christmas.
Be prepared. Stay awake. While you are waiting, strive to be found at peace.
I shutter sometimes when I think about how I might be found when Jesus comes or whatever happens in the end.
Will I just be looking busy like the bumper sticker instructs or will I be found at peace doing the most important work of giving drink to those who are thirsty, feeding those who are hungry, visiting people who are sick or imprisoned and offering hope to people who are hopeless?
What if it ends and I’m standing in line at the grocery store?
Will I be found at peace or silently cursing the person in front of me who is slowing things down?
Maybe if I was found at home with Renée and the cats on the last day I’d have a better chance of being found at peace — unless, that is, we’re talking about this week when stress levels related to health and holiday challenges lead to words spoken to both felines and friends I’d rather not have Jesus walk in on.
Perhaps it’d be best if I could be found cochairing a meeting of Hamilton Organizing for Poverty Reduction, brainstorming with caring, justice-minded people, about how to move the government forward on progressive social policies — unless it’s one of those days when everyone wants to speak at once and my patience is tried and tested and comes up short.
Last year when I heard about a man who died while swinging a forehand on the tennis court I thought that’d be the best place for me to be found at peace and then I remembered the terrible names I called myself this week when I missed an easy shot.
We do not know the day or the hour. May each one of them find you and me at peace.