Still On The Highway Worshippers

Did you read the first part of this piece? Please kindly search for it and read. Share if you can. It doesn’t matter your faith. Please do read and internalize the underlying message which is about the contradiction between what we profess as Christians or Muslims and the mannerisms we display on the road.

These mannerisms are pronounced even on Sundays when we religiously keep aside every other business to worship God in His sanctuary. The story is not different on Fridays when my Muslim brothers head to the Mosque for prayers. If Sundays and Fridays do not reflect a semblance of our faith in God, you can then imagine what happens on other days.

I know that we are a praying nation. Besides praying during service days, we pray before meetings begin. We pray before a journey commences. We pray without ceasing. Yet, traffic rules such as phone use despite its distraction is rampant. Those who are Christians are quick to plead the blood of Jesus instead of being the example of people of faith. The story is the same with my Muslim brothers.

This was exactly what I meant when last week I wrote that our highways have become strange places of worship where we pray before the engine starts. Where there is another prayer before the horn blares with a thunderous ‘Amen’. Where before we overload the vehicle and drive unlicensed, there is an ‘’Insha Allah’ ’Yet, our driving mocks the God we profess to serve and confess as every traffic rule and signs are ignored displaying the interesting contradiction.

We drive with worn-out tires and   defective brakes. We exceed the speed limit and overtake dangerously. We clutch the phone to the ear all through the journey and ignore, seatbelt usage while broken headlights are not fixed in addition to daily overloading of vehicles, yet praying for safe journey.

We boast of an estimated 43 to 46 percent Christian population while it is also estimated that 46 to 56 percent of the population are Muslims. Does this number reflect in our driving? The picture I painted says otherwise. Our religion is  obviously a license for recklessness.

If only a fraction of these numbers reflects the nature of God ALMIGHTY in their driving, few crashes and deaths would be recorded on our roads. If we display the same piety in the places of worship on the highways, the Guiness Book would be our target. The road does not ask whether the victim is Christian or Muslim or traditional religion worshipper. A collision does not recognize denominations or sects. Blood has no religion. Tears have no creed. Grief does not discriminate.

That is why road safety is not a secular issue separate from spirituality. It is a moral issue. It is a matter of stewardship. If life is sacred, then the way we drive must reflect that sacredness. If we truly believe that every person is made in the image of God, then we cannot treat the road as a place for proving our courage, our speed, or our superiority. The steering wheel is not a throne. The accelerator is not a weapon. The horn is not a tool for humiliation. Neither is the road a stage for ego.

Perhaps our greatest road safety campaign should not begin with more stickers, loudest prayers or larger religious symbols on vehicles. It should begin with obedience to God first, and to traffic laws. Faith should produce discipline, not arrogance. Prayer should inspire caution, not carelessness.

A truly spiritual driver is not the one who merely speaks about heaven, but the one who drives in a way that helps others arrive safely. He respects speed limits because he values life. He yields to pedestrians because he understands dignity. He maintains his vehicle because he knows that negligence can kill. He avoids driving under the influence, phone use and reckless overtaking because love for God must be expressed in love for neighbour.

El-Roi sees beyond our public piety. He sees whether our faith is reflected in the way we hold the steering wheel, respect speed limits, yield to pedestrians, maintain our vehicles, and value every human life. He sees whether the prayers on our lips are matched by patience in traffic. He sees whether the scripture on our windscreen is matched by wisdom on the road. He sees whether ‘’Our God is Able’’ is accomplished by our willingness to do what is right.

There is another irony. Many drivers who claim to trust God completely are often the least willing to trust the process of caution. They want divine protection without discipline, miracles without responsibilities and mercy without obedience. But the God who sees does not call us to foolishness. He calls us to wisdom.

He does not ask us to tempt him by ignoring danger. He asks us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. Humility on the road means accepting that we are invincible. It means recognizing that one careless decision can destroy many lives. It means understanding that arriving late is better than not arriving at all.

We must remember that road safety is an act of love. To drive careful is to love the passenger in your vehicle. It is to love the pedestrian crossing the street. It is to love the motorcyclist besides you. It is to love the child walking home from school. It is to love the stranger whose life you may never know but whose safety depends partly on your choices.

It is to love the child walking home from school. Love is not expressed in sermons, songs and prayers. Sometimes love is expressed in slowing down, checking the mirror, waiting your turn, and refusing to overtake where visibility is poor.

The safest journey is not guaranteed by the loudest prayer but by the combination of sincere faith and responsible conduct. Afterall, the God who sees also expects us to see the danger before it is too late. He expects us to notice the cracked windshield, the faulty brake light, the tired body, the wet road, the child standing too close to the curb, the truck reversing without warning, the bend ahead, the storm gathering, the risk increasing. To see is not merely to look; it is to understand, to anticipate, and to act wisely.

So, let the Christian driver keep his faith but let him also keep his speed in check. Let the Muslim driver keep his devotion but let him also keep his hands steady and his judgment sound. Let every driver regardless of creed, remember that God sees not only our prayers before the journey but the conduct during it.

El ROI sees the road, the vehicle, the passengers, the choices, and the consequences. And perhaps that is the final warning and comfort. We are seen. Our excuses are seen. Our negligence is seen. Our sincerity is seen too. The God who sees is not only watching for judgment is also calling us to wisdom, mercy and responsibility. If we truly believe that He sees, let us drive as people who know that every life matters, every decision counts and every journey is sacred.