During talks before Baptism, in order to justify the need for this sacrament we sometimes have to resort to comparing it with obtaining a driving license. For instance, let us imagine a situation when we turn up for a driving lesson at a driving school, but they give us the license, a car with keys and say: “And now drive to the city.” Our reaction is quite predictable. But life in the Church has its requirements, its laws, without the knowledge of which we doom ourselves to inevitable “accidents” or even catastrophes. Why do we see the need for drivers to have driving skills and know the Highway Code as natural, yet the suggestion that we should be at least minimally acquainted with “the rules of spiritual life” often causes our indignation and even protest?...
Below we offer our readers our attempt to show what this attitude towards catechetical talks might look like, if it were to go to a driving school.
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Once someone came to a driving school and said:
“I need a driving license for all kinds of transport, but without a trailer.”
The driving school administrator replied:
“Of course! No problem! Please pay at the counter, and we will give you the driving license today.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean by this question?”
“How are you going to hand me the license today? I can’t drive and don’t know the codes!”
“My dears! All of us began this way! Nothing to be afraid of! The Lord will help you! Our God is all-powerful! There is the ancient Hebrew name, ‘El Shaddai’—‘the Almighty’!”
“But I don’t even know what button I should press.”
“Press them all one after the other. You will get the hang of it with time. What is theory? It is like a woman inside a car, but practice is like a bear in the forest. Therefore, practice is the most important thing. In an extreme case, you can ask your neighbors.”
“And what about the Highway Code?”
“Oh, my precious! What Code are you talking about? We live at a time when no one obeys the Code! At first just drive slowly, keeping to the edges of the roads and along sideroads, looking around, and get used to your surroundings. You may have a couple of accidents or more. ‘What is to be done?’ as one writer said [an allusion to the famous novel with the same title by the revolutionary writer Nikolay Chernyshevsky.—Trans.]. We have all been there. It can’t be otherwise. ‘If you don’t sin you can’t repent,’ as the saying goes… ‘Experience is the son of difficult mistakes’ [a famous poem by Alexander Pushkin.—Trans.], as another writer said. He was also a poet at the same time, and do you know what poets are like? They converse with angels. And may your guardian angel protect you too!”
“But I might die like this!”
“You will be protected by your guardian angel! Besides, you should have your car blessed, hang an icon inside it, take prayer beads with you… Surround yourself with holy things! And God be with you! Drive recklessly… I will be frank with you, though… Anything can happen… But if you survive, you will be an ace driver!”
“And if I don’t become an ace driver?”
“Well, if you wish you can buy a book in our shop entitled, The Highway Code. You can read this manual in your spare time just for peace of mind. But you shouldn’t worry so much! Look, how many people drive like experts after our driving school. They really drive at full speed, go like the wind. And everything is fine! Almost everybody is alive…”
“Thank you, but with all due respect, I will look for another driving school.”
