Lake Shore Drive is full of weird, interesting driving experiences during high commute hour. I was particularly intrigued by two cars this week.

One was an older model black Mercedes with a license plate that says "FAIA". For those of you not in the architecture profession, it signifies that you're a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. A Big Deal in my world. But who was the driver? I don't know. It's a silver-haired white gentleman, that's all I can tell you. He evidently was so proud of his FAIA status that it became a vanity plate. It's like having a plate that says "MD" or "PHD".

Yesterday, we were behind a Jesus car. Black Civic with the Jesus fish and a license plate frame that read, "Smile! God Loves You!" The driver was a middle-aged woman with enormous sunglasses who was smoking a ciggie and then pitched the butt onto the road. I ws fascinated. God loves you, even if you're a smoker and a litterbug!

Then I got to thinking, am I allowing a Puritanical mindset to color my perception of what a God-fearing Christian should be? There's nothing in the bible, I don't think, that specifically forbids smoking or littering, though there's a lot of stuff about the body being the temple of God. But it seems like the contemporary Christian has a lot more latitude in misbehavior than Christians of old. Because, you see, God loves you.