Monday, August 26, 2013

taking inventory










Road &Track, which used to pride itself by being a bit stuffy, like a European journal on cars, yearly would put out a list of what their employees drove.  After tearing apart a drophead coupe for losing structural integrity, or complaining about the latest saloon’s rear doors only opening 75 degrees, it was interesting, and amusing to see what they actually owned.  And that their cars reflected more of us than them, as they drove old sedans, aka saloons, nary a drophead among them, aka convertibles, and none of the cars they tested and berated was found among them.  Drive as I say, not as I do.  Which made me reflect on cars I have never owned, as opposed to those I have.  I have never owned a Pontiac or an Oldsmobile, although I have driven both many times.  I have never cared for anything MOPAR, although I look at old GTX’s and Road Runners with admiration.  Must be the old Chrysler crank, that odd winding noise their starters make that turned me away.  It has been almost 40 years since I owned a BMW, a 1600, which established them here in the colonies, before they became trendy, expensive, and available to anyone with a high FICO score.  I have owned three VW’s, Rabbits, but never an air cooled, yuk.  But yet once owned a 1963 Corvair Greenbriar van, although it never ran.  Also only one van, a 1973 Chevy Van 10 that I bought from Garry Brown, who had custom built it as a final exam project to get his engineering degree from Bucknell.  But never, ever any mini vans, a great idea, but not for me.  Or my family, four doors still mean boring...as does anything the shape of a brick.  Great bread trucks, just not at my house.  Like the Bible says, man does not live by bread alone.
I have also never owned a Jeep, although I once bought Theresa a Suzuki Samarai for Mother’s Day.  Add SUV’s to the list, just a station wagon with truck like styling, and I have owned numerous pick up trucks, even a 1949 Ford F-3!  If you own motorcycles, you know why.  I have owned cars or trucks from the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and the new millenium.  I do not care for Japanese cars, or Korean cars either, they are too appliance like, I have never owned a Toyota or a Nissan, although when they were Datsun I wanted a 240-Z.  I did own a Mazda once, the last 4 door I have owned, and it never ran right, go figure.  Front wheel, rear wheel, but never a four wheel, and I lived where they claimed they were needed.  If you substitute more features for lack of skills, we all lose.  I have owned cars I wish I hadn’t and those I wish I had never sold, among them a 1950 Buick Special sedan, that when my girlfriend saw it said, “we’re going to the drive in.”  Never heard or saw that comment in R&T!  The inventory can go on, cars I drove of my parents, and of my sons.  Uncle Mose who always drove Oldsmobile, and fast, and working at Land Rover and laughing at those who felt they needed the ultimate 7000 pound, 4 wheel drive SUV in the wilds of La Jolla.  Why the jewel of San Diego has the worst roads, maybe they do need a Range Rover...when a Suburban would never do.
My friend Doug tells me how he tells his boys to take inventory of why they are saved on a regular basis, to get them to remember Jesus, and why we really are saved.  A good idea, no matter who or where you are in Christ, a time to reflect on Him, apart from communion.  Do we remember to do many things in remembrance of Him, or is it a monthly procedure?  Have we taken Jesus for granted, or in some cases, religiously, and He is only a Sunday morning habit we are forced to do?  Are there certain days, Mother’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas that you only attend?  Are you living the life of a drophead, top off, when really you are a spiritual dead head?  Are you all about illusion, or are you all about Jesus?  What if we were to publish personal and intimate things about you, like the Bible does about Jesus, would you match up?  Or would your drop head suddenly become a parcel van, no windows to look out of, or into, as what you see is not what you get.  Have you taken inventory of Jesus Christ in your life lately, and if you did, did you find Him wanting?  And what are you doing about it?
Cars have changed drastically in the last 40 years, have you changed since coming to the Lord?  Or are you still driving a 1950’s car in today’s world?  Are you about style as opposed to substance?  Do you care more about miles per gallon than about hearts for heaven?  If your life was a car, what would your kids say about it when you came to pick them up?  Are you living the life of a sports car, I had two MG’s, by definition a real sports car, as the top comes off, or just a sporty car, like a van with Sport written on it?  What happens when life throws you a curve, and you can’t handle it?  But it says Sport right there....
Inventory takes time, and needs to be done on a regular basis.  Counting all the small things too, not just the ones everyone else can see.  What is hidden in your boot?  Your trunk.  What is in your glove box?  I have a philosophy that the condition of your car tells more about your life than you want us to know.  A mess inside, I really don’t want to see your house.  Can’t find your keys, maybe you need the key to life.  Check engine light always on-maybe the car is trying to tell you something.  God sends the same signals to us...are we listening?
If your life was for sale, would it be in the front row, or in the back with the other old cars?  Where you stand with Jesus will dictate where you stand on judgment day.  A shiny outside with an engine that smokes, or a well taken care of engine, with a few scratches to show for wear, and where you have been.  Taking inventory can start today...find out what really counts in life.  As the man says, pay me now...or pay me later.
Now about motorcycles I haven’t owned...this won’t take very long...
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com