My husband is in the US this week. He called from his cell phone the other night/morning as he was driving back to his hotel. As he was talking with our ten year old he abruptly said, "Uh oh. . . Oh no. . . . Just a minute.. . . . Whoa" or something like that. She could hear car horns blowing in the background and Dad's voice disappeared for a moment. Thankfully he was back in a few seconds, to explain that he had inadvertently turned into the wrong lane on a divided highway, used as he was to driving on the other side of the road here in Malaysia, and distracted as he was by talking on the phone. He got a lot of angry horn-blowing and dirty looks, but the incident ended without accident. He decided to call back when he got to the hotel.
We had a good laugh over the situation, which seemed almost inevitable after 18 months driving on the "wrong" side of the road (I get my turn in a few months), but then my thirteen year old made the funniest observation of all. She said, "You know, if he had done that in Malaysia nobody would have cared." And she's right. Other drivers might have been annoyed at the inconvenience, but people regularly drive on the wrong side of the road here if they just need to do it to get somewhere quickly. . . and other drivers, for the most part, understand. Hey, we all need to drive on the wrong side at one time or another, right? Just do it quickly and get it over with.
When we first moved here we did not understand the rules of the road - I don't mean the laws, I mean how things really work. And I found driving very frustrating - infuriating, even. But now I don't use nearly as many bad words behind the wheel, and I sometimes even enjoy the give and take that is part of Malaysian road etiquette. I just got back from driving the 5 km or so to my daughter's ballet studio and was smiling to myself about how much I've learned about life on the road.
And I was thinking about Jesus. One of the things you've got to love about Jesus is that He could use anything to teach a lesson - an unfruitful fig tree, a bird's nest, a wildflower, a reluctant wedding guest. If He were here among us today He might use the internet, a Starbucks cappucino, a "Made in China" label or anything else part of everyday life. Like traffic - He might use Malaysian traffic.
Here in Kuala Lumpur you need to drive boldly. If you hang back you'll never get anywhere. Driving here is like a perpetual game of chicken; you can never let on that you might slam on the brakes for cars entering from side streets or you will be stopped at every cross street. If you see a potential opening in the stream of cars you have to make it an actual opening, or it will close up and you'll be waiting another five minutes. If someone is doubleparked in your lane, and there are oncoming cars in the other lane more than three car-lengths away, you need to move quickly and grab that lane before they get too close. Seize the lane (how do you say that in Latin??). It's not your fault that your lane is blocked, so you can assume you have as much right to that other lane as the oncoming traffic does. You need to take to heart the encouragement of Proverbs 28, "the righteous are as bold as a lion."
And sometimes you just need to make a move, trusting that a space will open up as you believe for it. You have to drive by faith and not by sight - not really as scary as it sounds! There's an odd dynamic that happens here: although it seems like it's every man for himself I have never really needed to get into a lane and not been able to in time for my exit. What looks like a bumper to bumper jam is surprisingly flexible, and the waters do part when you really need them to. Driving here is a faith building experience, in more ways than one.
A cardinal rule on the road here seems to be that it's OK for you to bend the rules, but you have to give other drivers the same permission. We're not under the law but under grace, therefore we need to remember to forgive others their transgressions as we hope to be forgiven ours. Jalan Sahala - one way street - is really just a suggestion, and sometimes really impossible to slavishly observe. Remembering that, you should not fly off the handle if you encounter someone traveling against the mandated flow of traffic when you happen to be in the right. As long as you can both squeeze by, what's the problem? Remember that you will be judged by the same standard you use to judge others, so just let it pass.
Driving in Malaysia is also a daily reminder that you cannot control or count on the future. You must hold your expectations lightly when you venture onto the highway. That's part of sharing the road with a million other drivers. Say like your Muslim neighbors, "If God wills" whenever you set out on the highway. Leave plenty of time, because you are clearly not the only one who needs to use the road, and don't lose your cool if you still get caught in a jam and are late to your destination. You can ALWAYS blame traffic, ALWAYS. No one will think any less of you, and you'll be happier and more relaxed if you just expect to be delayed. Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town. . .' You do not know about tomorrow. . . You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.
Another precept of the road that has broader life application is never forget to use your side mirrors, i.e. watch out for those who are smaller and more vulnerable than you. The roads here are filled with motor scooters who travel by their own rules. They switch lanes with abandon, weave in and out of traffic, zip through traffic jams like nobody's business. By driving scooters instead of cars, their drivers are actually reducing the congestion on the roads - and they get all kinds of incentives to do just that from bypassing tollbooths to special parking places - but you can take them out in an unguarded instant if you are not constantly on the lookout. Although he'd never driven in Kuala Lumpur the Apostle Paul described exactly this kind of caution as each fixing his attention, not simply on his own interests, but on those of others also.
And give each other grace. There does not appear to be much, if any, road rage in Malaysia. Things I'd expect to be cursed at for in the US - like changing lanes at the last minute because I made a mistake or parking in such a way that someone else cannot move his car - are no cause for comment or rude gestures here. Occasionally someone will tap their horn for you to hurry up or get out of the way, but I've never heard anyone lay on the horn in anger, scream out the window or use obscene sign language. It's pretty amazing. Doubleparking is epidemic here, and you can expect to occasionally come back to your legitimately parked car to find someone else parked behind you. Don't panic. The driver is probably sitting in the open air restaurant nearby drinking tea tarik with his buddies. If he does not see you immediately you just touch your horn lightly and he'll come running over to move his car, and take your parking space. People here make allowances for things like that.
A final spiritual lesson one could glean from the road here is to just keep moving on, any way you can. If your lane is blocked, make another. If the intersection appears clear, don't waste time with a complete stop. If the car ahead of you slows down to make a turn just slip right past him. Don't let anything hinder your progress. Remember the unspoken maxim, "The queue must be passed." Accept no obstacle, bow to no roadblock. Forgetting those things which lie behind, press on. I think that's pretty good advice.
No comments:
Post a Comment