The Fake Sound of Real Evil
The Lotus Evora debuted in 2011 with all the makings of a great sports car: a curb weight just above 3,000 pounds (which is low by 21st-century standards), 276 horsepower (later 400 in supercharged “400 S” form) from an all-aluminum Toyota-sourced V6, and a distinct and alluring shape. It also had one perplexing piece of technology: engine sounds piped into the cabin via resonance tube.
Augmented engine noise had recently infected autodom and was spreading like a plague. Some systems played a car’s engine sounds through speakers. Others, like the one in the Evora, bring that brassy induction noise into the cabin via a little tube, like you did in your tree house as a kid with tin cans and yarn. In luxury cars like new BMWs, it’s understandable (if not wholly warranted). But in a pure sports car, and a Lotus at that, it’s a reminder that evil exists in the world and sometimes you just have to accept it.
It is in the middle of such evil that the Bible offers its curious blend of acceptance and hope. Passages of grieving, suffering, and longing span the Bible, yet so do accounts of miracles, divine intervention, and eternal hope. Within this context, Habakkuk the prophet echoed the emotional cry of the people:
“The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.” (Habakkuk 1:1-3)
There is strife indeed. The effects of sin are obvious, unavoidable, and sometimes a little depressing. Cancer. War. Natural disasters. Genocide. Poverty. Corruption. World hunger. Gun violence. Injustice and oppression. Sex abuse. Addiction. Reckless wastefulness. Apostasy. Suddenly, fake engine sounds in Lotus sports cars are trifles.
The human heart longs for completion. Detesting evil and brokenness is the start, not the end, of faith in God. Christ-followers today can follow the example of the beleaguered yet patient Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:24) while deeply desiring an immediate change from God and an eventual reset; looking “forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). If you feel that desire for change, you can take action through:
prayer to a God who holds the universe together
action, by being the able hands and feet of God in a world that needs action, and
some grieving, which is understandable and actually necessary as a step toward acceptance and also hope.
If it seems confusing, God invites you to talk with him in prayer. You can speak to him directly – no sound tubes required.
Lotus, as a low-volume manufacturer, has a long tradition of employing other automakers’ engines in their wonderful little cars. Sometimes they sound great. Other times, you get what you get. As long as they use artificial means to pipe engine noise into the cabin, you’ll get more of it. Perhaps that’s just a reminder to practice acceptance.
