The Parable of the Two Drivers--President-Elect Obama Gets Behind the Steering Wheel

Once upon a time a family went on vacation. They decided to spend the week at Prosperityland Resort. They were exited and piled into the family minivan. Dad took driver’s seat and Mom got shotgun. The kids sat in the back rows—all of them, and there were a lot of kids.

Unfortunately, Mom and Dad couldn’t agree on the best way to get ProsperityLand—Mom wanted to take the Interstate and Dad thought the scenic route would be better. They also couldn’t agree who would drive. They compromised. Mom and Dad each put a hand on the steering wheel. Mom put her foot on the brake, and Dad put his foot on the gas. Off they went!

You can guess what happened. Every time Mom pulled the car to the right, Dad jerked it back to the left. When Dad accelerated, Mom put on the brakes to keep him from going too fast—especially if he was steering the car the wrong way. The car lurched left, rocked right, spun out and skidded to a stop, again and again and again. Every time the family thought they were making progress, Mom would tell Dad that they had made a wrong turn, and should go back—or vice versa.

The kids took the brunt of it; they got car sick; they tired of wasting their vacation time driving when they should have been at ProsperityLand. So they got together and said “STOP.”

“Mom—you stay on the passenger side. Let Dad drive alone for a while. Don’t touch the steering wheel and don’t touch the brakes. You can give Dad advice, but he doesn’t have to take it if he doesn’t want to. We’ll let Dad drive for four hours—and if he can’t get us to ProsperityLand his way, we’ll let you take a turn, Mom.” Mom wasn’t happy about it but she didn’t really have a choice.

Off they went again… This time the driving was smoother. The kids could enjoy the scenery out the window without getting car sick. They could only hope, ProsperityLand was around the corner…

This parable is one reason to be glad for the decisive national election results. President Elect Obama will have the steering wheel and the Democrats will be driving. For the last 4-8 years, the Democrats and Republicans have been pulling the steering wheel back and forth. We certainly have not been in Prosperityland—maybe we were going in the wrong direction, or maybe we just missed the exit. But with one party steering the country for a while, perhaps we’ll get to ProsperityLand a little faster; and if we don’t, the kids will give Mom a turn.