If memories are the remembrance of past occurrences, what do you call the things that happened but you don't remember? Or won't? Faded memories, or selective non-recall? Or the two words OJ's maid made famous, "no recuerdo." Fortunately, or un, as the case may be, we have a lot of no recuerdo in our pasts. And recently reading some old car magazines that were new once, I remembered. See if you do too.
Where have all the Chevettes gone? The car that Car and Driver called the "most important car Detroit has ever built," they built 100's of thousands of them. Mary Ann Sears had one, and when we rode in it together we were shoulder to shoulder, never did see anyone in the back seat. When is the last time you saw one? Pintos, Ford built 1.2 million of them the first three years, have you seen one lately? Remember the Vega, which gave proof to the scientific equation that oil and water don't mix, especially when leaking from head gaskets trying to seal iron and aluminum. Ford sold over one million Granadas, they were so Mercedes Benz like. Have you seen one lately, the Granada that is? How about Plymouth Crickets, an unholy alliance with the British, and forced upon Chrysler franchisees. The Austin Marina? FIATs, never Fiats. Capital letters that stood for Fix It Again, Tony. Opel Mantas, great cars, my friend Cooper had one, but sold through Buick dealers, and usually never found in their showrooms. Only stuck in a corner by the office supplies. In an age when any car with a wheelbase shorter than 110" was a compact-compare that today with the same wheelbase being a midsize, they created sub-compacts and their market overnight. And they were sub in many ways, and compact in more ways than size. Maybe that is why we don't remember them, as they were to cars what aluminum cans were to Coke-disposable. No one recycled then. No deposit, so they never returned.
And how about the onslaught of Japanese cars? Cars that prior to OPEC would only sell in Tokyo by proxy, you needed to prove you had a parking spot before you could buy one. Cars so small, tinny, and impersonal, they made you remember your toothbrush with more romance. Truly unforgettable machines, that took no therapy or drugs to forget. Gone and forgotten. But yet, we forget it was the fuel crisis, not the demand for better cars, that brought us all these forgettable machines. When you asked "what do you have under the hood?" was replaced with "how many mpg do you get," the romance had started to fade-very quickly. Even faster than their mediocre 0-60 times, which now were 0-50 because of the 55 mph speed limit. Cars that had more in common with golf carts than go karts, and we all rushed to get one. But couldn't wait to abandon them and get back to the real thing when the scare was over. For there are girls you take home to mother, and the other kind of girls-these cars never met anyones mother! And who do we have to thank for all these thankless cars?
Not the manufacturers, small cars meant small profits. But the US of A government. Once again here to help. Mandating 55mph speed limits, and instituting mpg laws-CAFE, the government did to cars what the Volstead Act did for gin-made them illegal. Trying to legislate morals, they only made the problem worse, and allowed criminals to flourish, except the automotive criminals did time on the street, in their underpowered, unromantic, and now forgotten cars. Can youimageine Bonnie and Clyde in Pinto? In a time when the battle was against oil and grease, we made it a battle between flesh and blood, and we continue to pay the price today. No one thought to pray or ask God then what to do, and I still see the remnants of that today. For our battle is still not against flesh and blood, but against evil, and is carried out on a spiritual level, only the battles are fought locally. Flesh and blood just happen to be the wrong battles we choose to fight in.
The Bible calls these law makers evil rulers of darkness, and don't realize that if you are not under the power of Christ, you fall under their power. Just one look at the headlines on crime, abortion, murder, bailouts, and other assorted crimes, reminds us that Satan is still the ruler of the world. But God is still under control. So rejoice, for Satan's end is coming soon, and who you align with, God or the devil, will tell us if you won or lost. For like the above cars that no one remembers, God will not remember you either if you deny Him. Simply put, He tells us if you do not represent Him on earth, He will not represent you in heaven. And we all face a judgment day after we die, it is important to know the only one who can save you-Jesus Christ!
Today is the day of salvation, and the time to get real with God. Or be abandoned to the scrap heap of life like the cars of the 70's. Cars no one has collected, or even wants to remember, for they represent a time in our lives when freedom was taken from us, and laws replaced it. Like ants at a picnic, they are only remembered for what they did, and more fondly remembered by not being remembered at all. Don't let your life end up like that. God promises life abundantly, but you must choose to take it. No CAFE laws, speed limits, or gas shortages. No Chevettes or four wheeled vehicles disguised as cars. Walking in His spirit guides you into all truth, and you can see the way through the situation, because of what lies ahead for us-and gives us a true hope and a future.
Put on the full armor of God, for He has made provisions for the battles to come. And will take us victoriously through them! And watch as true freedom becomes your true life, as the world's forces loosen their grip on your lives. Let the spirit do what no law could ever do-give you a hope and a future, with precious memories to go with it. America called it the "Spirit of '76!" We call it the Spirit of God!
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com