Sitting in traffic in Tennessee is not unlike sitting in traffic anywhere else – boring and monotonous, keeping you away from your destination.  Expecting nothing different this particular day, I just sat there, looking around, and then I saw it – the license plate in front of me.

Now, we have vanity license plates in Florida. You can make them say anything you want under six or seven characters.  And we have specialty plates, plates that promote causes like manatees, education, in the case of Janice’s car, dolphins. They tend to be colorful with distinctive artwork, and I thought they were distinctive in the country – I really don’t remember where else I’ve seen them.

Except now in Tennessee.  In front of me poked along an SUV with a distinctive license plate.  In slightly muted yellows and blues and a spot of orange, the license plate had a blue ridge in the background with the sun setting between the mountains.  But that was just the background framing, wait…what—is that a portrait!? In the same yellow, pink and blues was a picture of Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton!?  I could see Davy Crockett or even Tennessee Ernie Ford, at least he bears the state’s name. But a picture of Dolly Parton?

What would we do in Florida?  A portrait of OJ Simpson?  Burt Reynolds?  (You could park that car next to the SUV I saw and, no, never mind).  Maybe Ponce de Leon or Henry Flagler?  And then I thought of the ultimate vanity license plate – a picture of yourself!  Then, you wouldn’t have to pull out your license, the cop could just see that it’s your car.  Those little stick people in the back of people’s back windows could be replaced by a family photo!  The possibilities are endless.

What picture would you put there?  Who is so important to you that you would place their picture on a license plate?  Now, if you were sitting up front with the preacher for a Children’s Moment in church, you would say “Jesus!”  because that’s usually the right answer for any pastor’s question in that context.  But, seriously, if they could print onto your plate any picture you wanted, who’s would it be?

I think that’s what struck me in seeing Dolly Parton’s portrait on that plate.  Of all the people in the world to immortalize on a license plate, that driver chose Dolly Parton?  Why not Minnie Pearl?  Or, seriously, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or St. Augustine, or John Wesley or George Washington, or Mary Bethune Cookman.  Anybody.  But Dolly Parton?

There is a saying that you are known by the friends you keep.  I think that is very true.  And so are the people that we quote, that we read, that we listen to, that we watch.  And who we would put on a license plate.  Proverbs 13:20 says ‘Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (ESV).  In a media driven culture, I think this verse becomes more important, if more complex as well.  Where do we get our news from?  Who are we entertained by?  What quotes do we come up with because of the TV we watched last night?  What quotes or thoughts do we pass on because of the books we are reading? 

We live in a world that bombards us with information smothered by opinion and innuendo.  Keeping the closest we can to the Truth, to the primary sources of truth, to those who speak it with humility and sincerity, this is the challenge of the age.  And to honor those whose wise counsel and presence we keep is important.  And worth sharing. 

Maybe not on a license plate though.

Moving with the traffic,

Craig

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8