My friend and I met up for lunch at a pizza place which happened to be close to the neighborhood where she grew up. After stuffing ourselves by eating two-thirds of a large supreme pizza, we decided to take a drive around her old stomping grounds.
We drove past the houses she lived in through her childhood and teenage years. She showed me the schools she attended, and she shared stories of riding her bike around the neighborhood to visit friends.
On one particular street, as we neared the stop sign at the top of the hill, she told me about learning to drive on that very street. She recounted how when she pulled up to that stop sign, her dad jumped out of the car and told the people in the car behind them, “Back up. She’s a learner.” He anticipated that she might roll backwards into the car behind them since she was not only learning to drive, but doing so in a stick shift.
I found her story quite humorous and as a parent having taught one teen to drive (with two more to go), I could relate. While teaching my oldest child to drive, I often wished I had a bullhorn so I could lean out the window and yell to the drivers around us to give the teen driver some space. And to those drivers who had the gall to honk the horn at my (unbeknownst-to-them) new driver, I wanted to give them the number one sign.
While the driving story is funny, I thought there was wisdom to be gained from it, too.
We’re all works in progress, and most of us learn something new every day. We’re all learners, and good heavens, we could sure use the space to make mistakes. We don’t need people breathing down our necks— metaphorically honking their horns—when we don’t move quickly enough through life lessons or when we take two steps backwards.
In fact, it would be awesome if we each had a few folks in our corner who would step out and say, “Back up. She’s a learner.”
That lesson you keep having to learn over and over again, that you keep trying to get right? Keep learning. Keep trying. Keep making mistakes until you get it right.
Let me get spiritual for a moment: I think Jesus might’ve been the kind to say, “Back up. She’s a learner.”
Remember the woman who showed up uninvited to Simon the Pharisee’s dinner party and proceeded to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and dry them with her hair? The one Simon muttered to himself about her being a sinner? I think Jesus basically told Simon, “Back up. She’s a learner.”
Remember the woman the Pharisees dragged out of her lover’s bed and paraded through town, hoping Jesus would stone her? And how Jesus drew a line in the sand? Jesus was pretty much saying, “Back up. She’s a learner.”
Remember how Martha whined about Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet instead of helping in the kitchen? Again, Jesus more or less said, “Back up. She’s a learner.”
I think maybe Jesus has a soft spot for those of us who don’t pretend to have all our shit together. I think he’s quick to protect us from the holier-than-thou folks who like to get too close, pushing and prodding us. I think he likes to give us space and time to learn, so he’ll get out of the proverbial car and say, “Back up. She’s a learner.”
