What's your registration?

Following on from my last post (How am I driving?), I want to continue with a motorway theme, and ask the question, ‘What’s your registration’?

I have to confess that a little hobby of mine is ‘spotting’ interesting number plates while criss-crossing the motorways of Britain. It’s not quite as geeky as train-spotting and so far I haven’t taken to writing numbers down, or taking photos, both of which could be dangerous at 70mph. But I am tempted to start a collection of interesting number plates. We could call it the Book of Numbers...

Anyway, it is an interesting fact that many drivers like to have a ‘personalised’ number plate to help them stand out from the crowd. British drivers are not really superstitious about numbers (as for instance Chinese drivers are), but they do like to play with letters and numbers to make interesting combinations. Of course many settle for a low number with their initials – for example PAH 7 – whilst others with a short name can actually use their own name – such as YE48TOM (or JOY, SUE, TED, BOB etc).

The ones I really like, and are a good ‘spot’, are the ones with a bit more invention to them. These can be quite expensive to purchase and usually go with an expensive car. Some of my best ones recently have been:

ST55ARR (no lack of self-esteem with that lady)
A1BBA (not Bjorn, but definitely a fan)
1BEX (not David, but bags of money)
AL04MEL (think about that one)
JE55HUA (at a Christian Conference Centre – the guest speaker?)
T50COD (the owner of an angling shop)

Well, I know it’s sad, but it passes the time when I’m driving and I try not to get too distracted. I don’t have a personalised number plate myself as yet, although I do try to make something of my own registration YT03NSU (Young Tony...Not So Unusual). But I do wonder what makes people pay a lot of money (often thousands of pounds) to have their own unique registration.

It may be a simple case of vanity, it might be a bit of fun, it may be the need to be noticed, or the desire to stand out. It might just be an easy way of remembering which car is yours in the parking lot! All of us want to feel we are recognised and acknowledge in some way, and I guess have a unique registration can help with our sense of identity.

I wouldn’t say No to 7ONY if I came across it, but I’m glad my identity is built on a stronger foundation than my car’s make or registration. It’s grounded in Christ, and the fact that I am in him (2Corinthains 5:17). I have worth and value because I am God’s child and have been redeemed at great cost. I matter to God, whether or not other people notice, and nothing can change that.

How's my driving?

I have spent a lot of time during the past few weeks driving up and down the motorways of Britain. This has given me a lot of time to reflect, and the next couple of blogs will have a ‘motorway’ theme!

Lorries and white vans are regarded by many motorists to be a menace, and often are. Occasionally you see one with a sign on the back that says ‘How am I driving?’, and gives a number to phone with feedback. It’s one way that companies can encourage their staff to drive safely. I don’t know if they get much feedback (positive or negative), and I’ve never called myself. It’s the ones without a phone number that I would like to call!

Anyway, it has made me ponder what I consider to be the worst driving offences, and I quickly compiled in my head a list of the most common. I wonder if you agree with me?

(1) Hogging the centre lane on motorways when the inside lane is clear for miles (not literally).
(2) Tailgating. Everyone hates it, but why do so many do it?
(3) Undertaking, that is overtaking on the inside. Increasingly common and still dangerous.
(4) Parking in disabled bays at motorway services when obviously fit, healthy and usually young.
(5) Driving on roundabouts without any kind of signalling. Are we supposed to guess?
(6) Driving on roundabouts without any kind of signalling whilst talking on the phone.
(7) Lorries that overtake other lorries on hills whilst travelling at only 1mph more.

I could go on, of course, but I don’t want to appear to be a grumpy old man...

Anyway, my meditation was not all negative. I began to think, what if Christian people had to wear a sign saying ‘How am I living?’, together with a number to call for feedback. That would be a challenge wouldn’t it?
Our lives are meant to be living epistles, known and read by all, but what do they say? Do we get into bad ways of behaving and speaking that annoy and irritate others and are a bad witness to our faith?

The apostle Paul recognised the power of a person’s life. He not only sought to set a good example himself, but encouraged his young disciple Timothy to do the same: ‘Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and purity.’ (1Timothy 4:12)

There are five crucial areas of life:
Speech - how is my conversation?
Life - how is my behaviour?
Love - how is my concern for others?
Faith - how is my trust in God?
Purity - how is my thought life?

We are invited to examine our own lives and to reflect on our own behaviour, correcting anything that is amiss. But what if we invited a trusted friend, who knew us well and had our best interests at heart, to give us feedback and to hold us accountable in these five areas? Would our living improve?

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

And by the way, if you see me on the motorway, the number is ......