Stay in your lane

Do you recognize the name Edward Hines? In 1911 Edward was the chairman of the Wayne County Board of Roads. Wayne County is in the lower east side of Michigan. Detroit takes up a lion share of the county’s area. In 1972 Mr. Hines was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Transportation Hall of Honor for an idea he brought to reality.

While fulfilling his role as chairman of the Board of Roads, he watched a milk truck driving down the highway. The milk truck had developed a severe leak of its cargo and trailed a long while line down the highway. Trenton’s River Road was the first road in the United States to have painted white lines dividing the road for drivers.

Before there were octagonal stop signs or electric traffic signals at intersections, a white line server in their place. You have probably seen every stop sign or traffic light has a white line in the right lane. You are being told twice to stop or at least proceed with caution. I bet you didn’t know that.

In the ’50s, yellow lines were added. White lines for the cars going the same way you are going. Yellow means cars are going the opposite way, two-way traffic. As with the traffic lights, yellow always means caution.

A continuous white line means stay in the lane you are already in. A dished white line tells you it is permissible to move to the other lane if it is safe.

In 1956, the dash lines were added or substituted for the solid line in places where slower traffic has permission to overtake faster traffic. From this, I believe the solid lines, white or yellow, are the standard. The dashed lines are the exception to the rule; solid lines are the rule. Dashed lines are privileged allowances to that law. The big line here, “STAY IN YOUR LANE!”

I am often astounded by the trust I put in those lines. When I am going south at fifty miles per hour and another car is coming at me at the same speed. I know it is only our joint obedience to the yellow line  which will keep us safe. We pass each other faster than a blink, which could be our last if either of us crossed our line.

What would driving be like if Edward Hines had not seen that spilled milk? I have been to places in the world where traffic lines are not in ready use. Its crazy scary. You have seen how we Americans act when directed to park our vehicles in an unlined lot or field. Whoever gets out of their car first sets the parking pattern soon wherever there is a spot big enough to hold your vehicle at least half of it, is where you leave it. That is a still-life of what driving would be like, chaotic.

Have you ever noticed that God did not give the Ten Commandments to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? They weren’t needed. It was after the Genesis Flood, the Tower of Babble, and four hundred years of slavery that the Laws were given.

I have come to see two reasons for the Ten.

First, they give a relief picture of what God is not like. They also show what humans could be like. What we lost when we lost the residency in the Garden. What Heaven will be like.

Second, to set the fundamental guidelines for living together on this planet until Jesus comes back. It is as if He were saying, “You will find your life much more satisfying if you stay in this lane.” I don’t think God said, “I’ll beat you if you break any of these laws. You’ll just end up beating yourself. I just want you to know I love you and have a prosperous life for you, and this is how you will discover it. And, By the way, if you do, or when you break one of all these laws, I will love you no less, and I will not withdraw my promise to prosper you.  But you will have consequences to your decisions.” That is what compassion, mercy, and grace are all about.

Having written this out, I should change the title from “Stay in your lane” to “Stay in His lane.”

Photo – Looking west on Bethel Road as it goes under I-65 in Millersville, TN.