By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

"So, Poppa, when did you decide to break the law today?" That was the question posed by my 5-year-old grandson, Tristan.

Grudgingly, I snapped the seat belt into the locked position and put the van in gear. Tristan smiled smugly, fully aware that his comment had prompted me into compliance. It wasn't the first time that I've needed a reminder to obey the law.

Several years ago, I received word that a family member of a police officer had been seriously injured in an accident. As I sped along the highway toward the hospital several miles away, I calculated that, at 11:30 p.m., it was probably safe to gun the gas for all I could get. After all, I was serving as a law enforcement chaplain and was familiar with the officer's schedules and procedures.

At that hour of the evening, most of the police officers and deputies who were preparing to work the morning watch would, I reasoned, be in roll call. Those on the outgoing shift would be headed toward the boundaries of their assigned zones so that they could call in, check out, and be a little closer to home when the shift ended. At least, that's what I thought.

Zipping down Ga. Highway 54 between Peachtree City and Fayetteville, I had the car up to about 80 miles an hour when, all of a sudden, the bright, blinking blue lights flashed on behind me.

"Now who the heck is that?" I shouted out loud. I assumed that I had been snared by the Georgia Highway Patrol, whose schedules and procedures I did not know. I was, of course, wrong.

A lone deputy, working an odd shift so that he could attend university classes, had trained his radar on my speeding vehicle and had nailed me.

As he approached the car, he shone his mag light in my face, recognized me, and said, "Well, Chaplain! Out breaking a few of the commandments tonight are we?"

Chagrined, but ever mindful of the emergency situation at the hospital, I replied, "You've either got to give me a ticket in a hurry or cut me loose because I have to be at the hospital ASAP!"

Chortling to himself, he responded, "No, sir, I'm not going to give you a ticket. You're free to go but slow down and hey!- don't be breaking any of those 'Big 10' commandments tonight!"

It wasn't too long after that, as I was driving through south Alabama on a Sunday afternoon, that I was pulled over by a local sheriff's deputy. Once again, I was going too fast.

I stepped out of the car and reached for my driver's license as the deputy glared disapprovingly. As I was retrieving my license, the officer caught a glimpse of my badge in the wallet and reached for it.

"What is this?" he asked no one in particular.

He looked at my badge, stared at my clerical collar, looked at the badge again and then the collar and asked skeptically, "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

I explained that, yes, I was a priest, and yes, I was a reserve sheriff's deputy and a certified Georgia peace officer. It was then he really lit into me.

"Well, sir, you should really know better than to break the law, shouldn't you, then?" Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "Here you are a preacher and a cop to boot and you're just ignoring the speed limit, huh? Why, you ought to doubly know better. Think of all these kids driving by, seeing you on the side of the road, asking 'Daddy, why is that minister being stopped by the police? What did he do, Daddy?' Is that what you want?"

I said, "You are really enjoying this, aren't you?"

For the first time he grinned and said, "Yes, sir, I truly am. Preachers have been yelling at me for years about all my sin, and now it's my turn."

I didn't get a ticket, but my pride hurt something terrible.

So, I decided, maybe listening to a 5-year-old isn't such a bad idea. I even put my seat belt on when Tristan wasn't in the car.

It's bad enough getting rebuked by officers of the law and enduring humiliation on the side of an Alabama highway, but when a little red-headed grandson accuses me of being a lawbreaker well, that's just too much to bear. And, who knows, it might even save my life someday.

[Father David Epps is rector of Christ the King Church in south metro Atlanta. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com.]

Back to Opinion Home Page | Back to the top of the page