A stylized artwork depicting a fiery red devil with horns and sharp teeth, surrounded by two racing cars on a road, with a desert landscape and a red sky in the background, labeled as Route 66 and titled 'Road Rage'.

10     ROAD RAGE

KEY CONCEPTS:  temptation, violence, anger, stress, accident, fatality, at a crossroads, red light, darker side. (Corresponds to Devil)  

MESSAGE:  A famous legend states that by traveling to the crossroads at midnight, you can make a deal with the Devil to fulfill your deepest desires.  Old Scratch flaunts notorious trickery, but some folks are still so desperate to slake yearnings that they’ll peddle their immortal souls.  Would you trust a fellow that looks like this?  Temptation comes from fiction generated by the five senses. Why put faith in sensory perception?  It’s in cahoots with ego.  In truth, you have no selfhood apart from the immortal Divine. 

Infinity leaves room for only One presence, no matter what appearances portray. When you believe your identity is limited to “Danny Webster,” you separate yourself from your sacred source.  You become a branch sawed off from its trunk; duality projects false appearances of withering and death.  Realization of your true selfhood as the Infinite “I Am” restores all.

If you capitulate to terror, its murky shadow grows.  When you shriek and dash away from the Devil, you give him the upper hand.  Remember, he’s only a shadow, he’s a mirage, he’s your dark side. His aura looks like mayhem, but he has no substance.  Beelzebub ain’t nothing but a tempter, and like all monsters of temptation, he dissipates in the presence of the omnipotent Divine.  A certain cartoon bunny faced -and overcame- many seemingly fierce creatures of this kind.  When you confront scary monsters, they shrink-- eventually diminishing into tiny, feeble fuzzballs in flight.  As they scurry beyond the horizon, you’ll laugh at their helium tones fading away. Are you brave enough to greet your shadow self? 

Don’t let your eye wander while driving, or you’ll swerve, dear traveler.  Abiding in Infinite Love requires full attention. Cradle your steering wheel in constant loving presence; keep your eyes glued to the route.   When you permit Road Rage to distract you, you’re doomed to crash: harsh conclusions bring hard collisions.   Are you trying to alter your enemies?  Try changing your own response.  Recognize evil’s impotence: honk, or even wink at the Devil, but drive on by.   The only thing worthy of desire is union with Infinite Love, which vaporizes vice. 

RELATED SITES:  OFFICIAL STARTING POINT OF 66, ADAMS STREET & MICHIGAN AVENUE, CHICAGO, IL; MIDPOINT OF ROUTE 66, ADRIAN TX; INTERSECTION ROUTE 666 “HIGHWAY TO HELL”, GALLUP NM; ROUTE 66 CROSSROADS, (66 CROSSES 66) 4TH/CENTRAL, ALBUQUERQUE, NM; DEVIL’S ELBOW BRIDGE, DEVIL’S ELBOW, MO.