Psalm 48

“They were stunned, they were terrified, they panicked.” (48:6)

In my day, driver’s training taught that if the car goes into a skid, we take our foot off the brake and pump the brakes gently, steering in the direction into the skid. I needed to unlearn this behavior when I bought a car with anti-lock brakes and learn instead to steadily keep my foot on the brake. The goal of driver’s training is to prepare us to make split-second decisions correctly so we won’t panic and freeze. There is no way to prepare for every unexpected event, but we can remember to breathe and calmly think our way out of the situation.

2 thoughts on “Psalm 48

  1. I don’t know about that, Rabbi. You are right about turning the car in the direction of the skid but just braking firmly depending on the anti-lock brakes to save you is not necessarily a good idea. Generally the less braking the better.

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    • You know more about driving than I ever will, but I think in this case I wasn’t clear about what I learned originally and what new behavior I needed to learn. I’ve edited the post to clarify. I don’t mean that I’ve been told to jam my foot on the anti-lock brakes. I meant that I’ve been told to break steadily, rather than firmly.

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