Road Signs

A dented silver hubcap, bounced from a pothole, leans against a curb like a tossed coin that couldn’t decide whether to land heads or tails. Nearby, roadside grass—finally green after a long winter—nearly obscures a twisted steel road sign: Speed Limit 45. For weeks now, I’ve noticed black-and-white speed limit rectangles and yellow warning diamonds lying useless beside highways. When snow plows first bumped them out of the ground, they were at least visible, but now grass has nearly buried them. Yesterday driving out of Long Grove, I saw a sign still standing, but spun around so that its gray metal back faced me. After passing it, I craned my neck to read the front: Welcome to Long Grove.

Those signs, meant to protect and lead travelers, leave drivers without protective limits and guidance. Similarly, modern culture has plowed down moral customs that shielded us from becoming lost and destroying ourselves. I offer three recent examples.

When Oprah mentioned that an actress had dropped the F-bomb on the Academy Awards show, Oprah’s audience erupted in cheers and applause. What??? Vulgarity is now praise-worthy? Lady Gaga’s overcoming an American Idol contestant’s objections to Gaga’s advice to “have fun with” an “I’m evil” song lyric was presented as a victory. What??? Are we so desensitized, we have forgotten evil is real—and by the way, bad? In a Friends rerun, Joey got excited to learn Rachel read porn. What??? What kind of “friend” laughs watching a friend self-destruct?

Isaiah 5:20 says: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Just because society has spun the “Welcome to Diabolical Devastation” sign backward, doesn’t mean we aren’t driving through it. Just because Hollywood tells us everybody does it, doesn’t mean everybody does or that sex outside marriage is on any level healthy or funny. Just because a celebrity condescends toward truth doesn’t make it false. Just because one can get away with offending people doesn’t make him or her a hero.

I’m praying our road signs get resurrected soon.