Check Your Mirrors, the column title, came from fourteen years of teaching driver education. On one level, I was reminding the young drivers of this important skill because they needed to “check their mirrors” to pass the driving test.
But the phrase also had a practical value. When they checked their mirrors, the students were not only protecting themselves but were looking out for the other cars with whom they shared the road.
Checking our mirrors is a valuable life lesson. It also makes a catchy blog/column title, a reminder to observe carefully, watch judiciously, and make decisions that are beneficial for oneself and for others.
The teacher in me wanted to inform, inspire, entertain and persuade in my column by that name. It was a formula that worked—until it didn’t. So, now I will walk the talk, check my mirrors, and make a change because I am struggling.
If you have read my writing the past few years, you know how and why I feel as I do. I am not deranged, but I am confused, disheartened, and ticked off. The country voted and chose Mr. Potter over George Bailey, and I can’t unsee it.
But this is about me looking into my mirror and guarding against the cracks from angry reflections.
So, Shed a Little Light will make its column debut next week with a new picture of an old woman. An old woman who wants to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly because that is what the Lord requires of her.
I am not naive in thinking that a new column or blog title will insulate me from the sadness, the fear, the frustration that will emerge these next four years. I have endured the flags and bumper stickers with profanities for four years. I can only imagine how emboldened words and actions will be now.
But when these moments are too much, I will get in my car and drive rather than sit down and write. I won't ask you any longer to check your mirrors. Instead, just shed a little light.
Sweet Baby James Taylor wrote the song in 1991, a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work.
Shed a little light, oh, Lord, so that we can see.
And I will pray that we all see what we need to see, not just what we want to see.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West Texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
