Like many of you, although I do not do anything worthy of this reaction, I grow more self aware when I see a policeman. I know that I do not know all the laws, and I worry that some of these men, because they have power, might exercise it unrighteously to my mortal detriment. For instance, it’s illegal to hunt camels in New Mexico, and if I were inclined to do that and didn’t know that, my ignorance of the law would not excuse me in a society that has decided to prosecute on expediency rather than consistency.
Several instances this week have made me more aware of my own behavior and encouraged me to a greater degree of exactness in obedience. My mother told me of a case of which she is aware where a man faces charges for stealing necessities like toothpaste, toothbrush, and dental floss from a local grocer. The associates in a local Wal-Mart told me that half the air filter and oil filter boxes in their store are empty, and while they told me this, there was a page over the intercom about a woman trying to flee the store with items in her purse. It’s so common they no longer broadcast in code. One of my students was opining her lack of funds because she has received three traffic violations in the last year totaling over $1500. I told her that the easy solution was to stop breaking the law.
I have had my share of brushes with law enforcement. I remember one time on the freeway passing a patrolman who was driving 55mph in a 65mph zone. All the cars were staying behind him for fear he might ticket them when in his absentia they would have passed me as if I were standing still. As I pulled ahead of him, he glared at me. I pegged my speedometer to 63mph and kept it steady as he pulled in behind me and drove there for the next seven miles before tiring of the fruitless pursuit. Another time, a highway patrolman pulled me over for driving 80mph in a 55mph zone. What is the likelihood honestly that my 1995 4-cylinder Saturn can even drive that fast? I have actually never driven it that fast, and now that the speed limit in rural Utah is 80mph, I have finally driven that fast. She really pulled me over because my plate was too dirty for her to read.
My heroes are those who steadfastly held fast to the law and the Law. One of my great heroes is Sir Thomas More. He became famous for standing up to King Henry VIII and refusing assent to the King’s divorce because it was against God’s law. At his final trial, when threatened by the king’s chief ministers with justice, Thomas replied, “If it is justice with which you threaten me then I am not threatened”. At a much later date, Eric Liddel refused to compete in an Olympic event on Sunday when he told the future king of his country that he would not run. Their faithfulness to the Law gave them liberty, not as the world defines it, but as Charles Piggott defines it in his dictionary dated 1795: “the indispensable necessity of keeping sufficient for others to use, particularly our own families”. Liberty is not license; it is responsible stewardship over what is so that others may also have in kind.
Either the law applies or it does not. Nothing annoys me more than when police violate the law or when politicians write themselves special exemptions to the laws they impose on us. When I obey the law, I leave it open to apply to others as well. The children of Israel were commanded to only take what manna they needed so there would be enough for others. Manna did not keep. It was replenished every day because some of them took liberties with their benefits that did not keep things just for others who went out to gather. Consistent application of the law ensures liberty, because people come to rely on its lines and follow them safely to their destinations. The more some people have exemptions, the less convicted we are that, when a policeman pulls behind us, we will be treated with Justice. If it is justice with which you threaten me, I am not threatened. Christ is my pilot. I am His passenger. If justice is done to Him, I will arrive safely, and so will you.
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