BUMPER STICKERS

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Bumper stickers are still popular, have been since I was a kid. Not sure why someone would want to deface their possession, pride and joy, or plain ole transportation. Then again, I shouldn’t be too judgmental, I once drew on my white, short-haired hound dog, but that was a long time ago… plus he didn’t have bumpers.

Some bumper stickers are meant to be funny, others are intended to inspire, support, and encourage. While I don’t participate in pasting stickers on my truck’s bumper, that doesn’t mean I don’t read the ones on other people’s.

bumper stickers

image courtesy commons.wikimedia.org

I have to admit, I find reading bumper stickers fairly amusing, most of the time. A few clever ones I’ve read; “I bet Jesus would have used His turn signals”. Or how ’bout, “Sometimes I wrestle with my demons – sometimes we just snuggle”.

One of my favorite classic bumper stickers, I think from the seventies; “Guns cause crime like flies cause garbage.” I also didn’t mind the old yellow circle with the simple smile and the “Have A Nice Day” below it.

Then of course, due to our freedom of speech and bumper stickers, are the other ones, the obnoxious ones. Not so much the silly rainbows or the names of the person’s favorite band, but the rude ones, the vulgar and profanity-laced ones that get under my skin.

I figure that they’re young people, which is almost always synonymous with lacking wisdom; was for me too, still is sometimes.

Of all the bumper stickers that I dislike, there is one type that strikes a chord deep inside, and that pitch brings the blood inside my fallen flesh to a boil. Those stickers are the ones of political persuasion. When I spot certain ones, even though I know these people exist, I double take and strain to see what they look like, almost as if their hair was on fire.

First glance at the bumper sticker and my instinct holds them responsible for tearing down the great American way of life… by removing and mocking God. In that instant, I’ve fallen into the same trap as the bumper sticker brandishing bourgeois; controlled by emotion as opposed to the fearless faith in God Almighty.

The thing about bumper stickers is that each and every one of them reflect and reveal the folk’s perspective on life. People want to tell others, strangers, who they are and what they believe. Some Christians do it with the fish or church stickers.

We all believe in something. We put our faith in what we hope or believe will save us.

After I rein in my emotions, my perspective changes. Those political bumper stickers represent people who trust and believe in other humans for their security… Even after having been lied to by every single one of the people they put their faith in. They, their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents have believed the same lies.

That is the mark of desperation, insanity, and not knowing God…

Maybe I should put that on a bumper sticker.