THE BOOK

I have in my possession a book. It is the product of many years of compiled wisdom. Many authors contributed to it. This book purports to be a guide for how to remain safe and get along with each other.

It gives specific laws that if everyone obeyed…would make our society much safer. Many people have read this book and figured it was only a guide to live by, it was never to be taken literally.

Most people rationalize that it need not be taken literally. We can pick and choose what we would like to obey in it. After all…we are all rational adults and can decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong…

Most people that have read it don’t live by its’ laws on a daily basis…even though they know on some level that to disobey those laws can endanger them.

All who have read it know that it speaks of a higher authority, a higher authority that is always watching us. If we continue to break the laws of the book, it tells us that one day we will stand before that higher authority and have to answer for our actions…

That authority can and does impose penalties for breaking the laws contained in the book. But most people behave as if they aren’t being watched?

You see there are basically two kinds of people…those that take the book literally, and believe that it means what it says. These folks believe that the book is an instructional manual and should be followed as such. And then there are those that believe that it is only a guide, written metaphorically, and needn’t be followed to the letter… The problem with the latter is deciding exactly who is qualified to interpret the metaphors. If it is, in fact, only intended to be metaphorical….why have a book at all?

Each of us has to make a decision about how we feel about the writings in the book. Each of us faces the choice about whether to obey the laws in the book or to just hope that others obey the laws in the book. That is the choice after all… We ALL want everyone else to obey the laws of the book!

Everyone knows the book I’m referring to… The State Drivers Handbook of course!
What did you think I was talking about??