Anyone who has spent any amount of time on Daufuskie outside of the planned developments knows that there are gas powered vehicles here. Some of those vehicles are large – like dump trucks, cement trucks, fire trucks. And when those vehicles are moving about at the speed limit (35 MPH in most places outside of the developments), they can be incredibly intimidating to someone driving a golf cart, particularly if the golf cart driver had no idea that trucks were allowed on our roads. When faced with a reality that is different from their expectations, their response is almost always “but I didn’t know that there were cars or trucks allowed here.”
Development of the planned communities on our island started in the 1980’s, but scores of people were living here on the island long before that. There were schools and churches to attend, and businesses to operate, and people used cars and trucks to get around the island. Frankly, having something with the power of a combustion engine was very helpful on these dirt/sand roads. Golf carts didn’t even begin to make sense until new communities, with paved roads and actual golf courses started up. For those of us still living on dirt roads, we are thankful for our cars and trucks when we have to drive through the mud and puddles to go get our mail, or pick up our groceries, or go to the dump.
If that is the history of vehicles on Daufuskie, why would people assume that we only have golf carts? Well, the first reason is that they don’t know the history and haven’t spent time considering it. Not only is this history true, it is also logical when you think about it, so if you weren’t expecting cars and trucks, that suggests that you didn’t consider the history of how our island developed. Another reason that is perhaps more important, is that there are plenty of travel writers and reviewers who have incorrectly reported that this is a golf cart only island. Each of the planned communities has vehicle policies in place that prohibit privately-owned combustion engine vehicles, so a visitor who stayed within those communities might think that the entire island was like that, but those prohibitions are limited to specific locations. Therefore, someone could do a little research, and then come and stay in a particular community on the Island, and then leave believing that there weren’t cars or trucks here. But even with that set of personal experiences, they would be wrong.
As a pastor who believes that the Bible is the word of God, I can’t help but see a parallel to life. The Apostle Paul was quoting the Old Testament prophet Isaiah when he wrote “’As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” (Rom 14:11) At that time, there will be many who exclaim that they didn’t know that there was a God. Those people will have formed that belief because they never really considered our history, whether that be cosmological, biological, or anthropological, and they had plenty of experts telling them that there is no God. Therefore, even though those people were able to go through their lives seemingly unaffected by their belief that God didn’t exist, they will be held accountable to the reality that He does, and that He was in their midst all the while.
Paul wrote “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Rom 1:20). Therefore, I exhort you, please spend time considering the power and majesty of nature, contemplating the origin of our universe, our planet, and life itself. And spend some time in the Bible. The truth is there for you to see, and it will keep you from being surprised later by one who is much more intimidating than a speeding truck.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron