Doug Van Pelt

God Sees All...and must laugh a lot.

Proverbs 15 says that:

"The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good."

I remember some trouble I got in as a young man. I was living in Alabama for the last three months of my senior year in high school (transplanted against my feeble will from California). I had borrowed my parents' car and was parked with three friends from California who all shared my prodigal appetite for weed and metal. We were parked on a long (probably one mile) narrow gravel driveway with tall trees on either side. It was a "safe" place to park and get stoned ... or so we thought. At one point in the night, after rocking through AC/DC's Back In Black album and partway through Judas Priest's Unleashed In The East, we saw a pair of headlights coming from the big house at the end of the driveway.

"I'll back out," I said, as we slowly tried to navigate in our altered state backwards in a very straight line. As I sped up to avoid the approaching car, I went into the ditch on the driver's side. It was about 18 inches deep, and we got out and tried to push the rear wheel out. I only spun rocks and hit one of my friends (Chris) in the head. Once we knew it was hopeless to rock or push it out, we flagged down the pickup truck that was heading out. Seems they weren't as concerned with us being there as we thought (but in an age of cell phones, we would've been busted for sure). I took out a sturdy rope/nylon band that was in the trunk and tied it around our two bumpers. Then we gave the thumbs up signal to the driver. Yep, he pulled the car alright, spitting rocks at high speed, nailing Chris in the head again, as well as putting out one of the tail lights. "Maybe I should've stayed in the car to steer it," I said. (There's a reason why they call it "dope," you know) The car was pulled, but just ricocheted back and forth between the ditch rim and the trees, tearing off the rear view mirror and scratching the '71 Pontiac Tempest all up. I got in the car and helped steer it out on the second attempt, we untied the band from the impatient driver, and we started concocting what I was going to say to my parents.

After I dropped Brian and Jim off, I noticed some tall bamboo reeds by Chris' house. I broke off several and placed them in my back seat. 'I'll make it look like random vandalism on my street,' I mused. So, when I arrived home, I parked the car in the street and scattered the bamboo in the street around the car. I went to bed knowing my planted evidence would incriminate some anonymous vandals.

My effort to sleep in late was interrupted by my parents. "We need to talk to you about Tammy," they said. ("Tammy" was what we named our Tempest). "What happened?" They asked. I told them my story, but it didn't fly because I had left some of the bamboo reeds in the back seat. And I also left a plastic 7-11 Slurpee cup full of seeds in the front. So much for my bold scheme.

I can laugh at those shenanigans now, and I imagine my Father in heaven both shaking His head and laughing at my foolishness. My parents must've had the same reaction as well, (in addition to the worry over my reckless and lawless behavior).

We all think we can get away with the "perfect crime," but God sees everything we do. While we may fear discipline and "getting caught," it is a wise man to accept discipline and correction.

"He who listens to a life-giving rebuke
will be at home among the wise.
He who ignores discipline despises himself,
but whoever heeds correction gains understanding..."

"Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord..."

And speaking of wisdom...that's Yoda up there.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 11, 2005 10:56 AM