Once there, I made my way around the village. I got off the seat for awhile to take a rest at the "Narrows", where the north and south lake meet. Nice spot. My "cheeks" really appreciate it!
Continuing on, I made my way past the small coffee shop on the main drag. Several cars were lined up in front. There were some interesting bumper stickers there this morning. I tend to notice those.
I actually laughed out loud at one car. It had several stickers on the back, but two right next to each other were what I found delightfully humorous and 'apropos. The first one said, "Obama/Biden 2008". The one next to it said, "Caution - Blonde Thinking". Well, doesn't that say it all!!
Two cars down, I saw the "Coexist" sticker. Have you seen this one? They are not uncommon up here in Traverse City. Typically applied to Beetles, Civics, Hybrids and other little "gen-Y" type vehicles, I've yet to see one on a pickup truck. Go ahead and apply whatever implications that might make. More about that in a minute.
One of the really nice things I enjoy on a long bike ride, is that it gives my brain some thought-time. Understanding that you do need to be alert, I still find that my mind works very well as I pedal. This doesn't seem to work in the middle of the winter when I'm on my stationary bike in the basement, so sun, wind, insects and birds do have a very positive effect on the thought process.
So on the ride back, that "Coexist" sticker pops back into my mind, and now my thoughts on it:
If you haven't seen one, the word coexist on the sticker takes each letter of the word and makes it into a religious or political symbol. The "c" becomes a Muslim crescent, the "t" a crucifix, and so on. See the picture here.
What would the owner of this sticker want us to think? First, it would seem that he or she would like us to think of them as being very enlightened. Full of brotherly love. The message being, "can't we all just get along", "live and let live", etc.. It certainly suggests to me an elitist type liberal and/or an "inclusionist" if that's a word. Everyone just doing there own thing. Nobody's "right". There is no absolute truth.
It could be that the owner belongs to one of these symbols, and just wants to be left alone.
Be careful of literal translations here. Lions and hyenas have coexisted for eons, but there's no love there, and that's really my thought on this sticker. It means to say "everyone just do their own thing" and leave each other in peace. But is that caring, or not caring? Think about it.
I can only speak to the letter to which I belong. The "t". And that symbol belongs to Christ. He didn't teach us to coexist. Far from it. He taught us the truth, and then gave us the mission to spread that truth and pray for the conversion of others. The owner of the sticker doesn't belong to the "t", at least. Not really. I don't mean to be judgemental. They may very well be one of the nicest people you'd ever meet, and very easy to coexist with. But that is not enough.
Wow! All of that thought can't possibly be done safely when your pedaling along down a highway. In fact, I was sort of drifting over when an SUV passed me with a sticker that said.......
Aw, never mind. Bicycles and cars do not coexist very well.
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