Thursday, August 04, 2011

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread...

I saw a friend on Facebook share an article from the StarTribune about truckers. The author of the article had a great opening.

Let me tell you a little about the truck driver you just flipped off because he was passing another truck, and you had to cancel the cruise control and slow down until he completed the pass and moved back over.

His truck is governed to 68 miles an hour, because the company he leases it from believes it keeps him and the public and the equipment safer.

The truck he passed was probably running under 65 mph to conserve fuel. You see, the best these trucks do for fuel economy is about 8 miles per gallon. With fuel at almost $4 per gallon -- well, you do the math. And, yes, that driver pays for his own fuel.


The author Dan Hanson writes incredibly well about this particular driver, Harold, and his situation. Read the whole article here. The article is a great reminder about the reality of truck drivers' lives... and our own self-centeredness.

And it is a great illustration for the daily bread petition of the Lord's prayer. When Luther explains in the Small Catechism what is meant by daily bread, he says:
Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

I always take the opportunity to explain to my confirmands that this means we are praying for the migrant farm workers, the stock boys in the supermarket and yes, even the truck drivers who are hauling goods all over the country. This article is just one more piece of evidence that supports my position. The men and women who are engaged in trucking are not just obstacles in our path, but human beings with real lives who are engaged in providing our daily bread.

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