The Spiritual Meaning of a Car That Drives Better Than I Do

I bought a car at the end of January. Based on what I’m discovering as I reconnect with my friends, it’s very likely that you bought a car in 2022, too! It seems to be the popular thing to do (that and buy an air fryer or an InstaPot!). I thought prices would be very low because nobody has been going anywhere and nobody has been spending any money and they had inventory they were desperate to sell, but apparently that was not the case. I guess the increase in the price of materials and the scarcity of labor (and obviously higher demand than I’d expected) drove the prices up.

Anyway, I was meeting with Rebecca, my Talmud study partner, and telling her all about the features of this vehicle and how I am perpetually fighting it for control. We realized that this is actually a somewhat irreverent metaphor for our relationship with God as we function in this world.

I have been driving for just short of 60 years. I know how to steer around curves! I slow down slightly just before I enter the curve so that I can accelerate a bit as I drive the actual curve. I turn my steering wheel to stay centered on the curve, and a winding road might entail turning the steering wheel first in one direction and then in another as I navigate a succession of curves.

My onboard computer believes it knows better how to take each curve and resists me as I attempt to make minor corrections with the steering wheel. We are talking about a lot of strength that I must use in order to override what the car is trying to do by itself. And it’s likely right, and maybe my own steering isn’t optimal, but I want to be in control of my own car based on my years of driving experience! The safest course of action, given the engineering and programming of this vehicle, is likely to stop resisting and trust the car to take me around the curve smoothly, safely, and efficiently.

The car also boasts a series of warning signals and beeps at me over all sorts of things. These can be disabled, but I am trying to see which ones are useful rather than totally disruptive before I make any such changes. It beeps when I leave my lane without signaling. I could see this as a safety feature if I am drifting because I am not paying attention, am distracted, am falling asleep, or something like that. But I drive in heavy city traffic and am constantly edging out of my lane when nobody is adjacent to me in order to avoid double-parked trucks, bicycles, and other such obstacles. I KNOW I have left my lane – I did it on purpose! The car also beeps at me if I am stopped at a light and the car ahead of me moves, or if my velocity is higher than that of the car ahead of me and I am gaining on it too quickly. All of which I’m aware of as I’m driving down the road. You can’t move the instant the light turns green but have to monitor the progress of the car in front of you so as not to hit it. And you are definitely watching what’s ahead of you as you approach it and will slow down as appropriate. Again, I do see the benefit of these warnings as I age and perhaps my mind will start to wander more, but right now, I feel like I am fighting my car all the time.

As we discussed these safety features that are mostly just annoying right now, my study partner and I realized how they are indeed a metaphor for our relationship with God. I am effectively pitting my years of experience against expert programming and integration into the vehicle that is being controlled, with camera views everywhere. As I steer my way along my path in life, I might deeply believe that I know better how to control each moment. God might be trying to lead me in another direction, and I might find myself fighting with all my strength to wrest control for myself. Is that the right thing to do, though? Or am I perhaps better off trusting that God actually knows more clearly than I do the path that I should follow?

I am involved in several different groups that practice Mussar. One of them met this morning, and its focus was on trust. It reminded me very much of this discussion about my new car: We have learned in life, and particularly through this pandemic, that we are not in control of very much around us. Our role is to plan out those items we might be able to control, and to relax and trust in our capabilities and support to get through all the rest of what happens to us, which we do not control. Don’t expend unnecessary energy fighting when something is not under our power. So here’s to my metaphorical car getting me around the next bend on my journey!