Without ID

This morning I technically broke the law. Actually there is not 'technically' to it - I broke the law. Leaving church yesterday, I completely forgot to grab my wallet, complete with money, credit cards, but most importantly - my drivers license! I didn't realize it until I was already at home. As the son of a State Trooper, I am conscious of traffic law whether I want to be or not - especially when it comes to driving without a license. Two weeks after I turned 16, which back then was when your license lost all restrictions and you were free to drive whenever, I was driving back from a church softball game. It was spring and the sun was just setting and the windows were down and the radio was up and I was not paying attention to my speedometer. Even though I wasn't paying attention, a Highway Patrol corporal was. 68 in a 55 I think it was. Two weeks after my license and my knees were trembling as the blue light flashed in my rear view mirror. "License and proof of insurance, please." "Yessir." And then the greatest moment of panic up to that point in my life. I didn't have my license. My wallet was sitting on my dresser, complete with a picture of my girlfriend and a my drivers license. Neither of which were doing me any good back home.

Needless to say - I did not go to jail and I escaped with just a warning. Partly because my father was a State Trooper and had trained this nice corporal, but the other (and probably greater part) was the sheer terror on my face that moved the officer to feel I had learned my lesson.

I guess an argument can be made that says we don't really need to carry our license with us wherever we go. With computers in patrol cars, the officers can surely look up our driving credentials, driving record, and anything else they need. But the law, however, is that whenever we are behind the wheel of an automobile - we need proof that we are able to drive.

In a long, winding thought process as I thought about driving without a license this morning, I pondered about our identification as Christians. What do we keep with us, what do we present, what do we demonstrate that shows we are filled with the hope of Christ? What do we have that shows we think about what it means to believe - to have faith. What do we have that shows that we pray, that we worship, that we strive despite all our failings to be in peace with the world? Surely we don't have a card. And do we need to have anything to show in the first place? Can't someone just call the church office and retrieve our baptismal information, Sunday School attendance, etc. just like an officer pulling up a driving record?

But that wouldn't be the same, would it?

Take a second. Find a bible or Google this - John 13:35

What do you think?

Fr. Steve+