Last summer while many were out cruising, riding, or at the beach, another
local landmark became history. Taking liberty with the Joni Mitchell lyrics,
“they paved paradise and put up a parking lot,” a local parking lot that had
become a paradise for dozens learning to drive vanished. Another Walmart is now
where the huge parking lot behind the Fedco used to be, and with it, another
teen memory of many is gone. A place where generations of teens first got
behind the wheel of a car, including my sons, is now another place to shop, for
less. It was a place where both my sons learned to drive a clutch, a big deal
at one time, but today when over 95% of new cars are an automatic, it hardly
seems worth noticing. But like Christopher will tell you, last summer when they
rented a BMW and toured Spain and France, it had a 5 speed, and he knew how to
drive a stick, so as others rode along, he drove. And he is perhaps of the last
generation to learn to drive a stick, and soon the old Bill Cosby joke about
drifting back into the bay will have no meaning, nor will driving a bug. Four
speeds, three on the tree, all old terms with no relevance now. The automatic
transmission has taken over as the preferred way to drive, now we just point and
steer, while others watch and pray. And to a man who used to drive semis in
Colorado, where we had real mountains, a 13 speed Road Ranger was a natural as
the Rocky Mountain spring water, but here drivers use an Allison automatic,
because of the hills, I was told. Like Dirty Harry said, “every man has got to
know his limits.” And today we are limited by 3-4-5-7, or an 8 speed
automatic-still all a way to point and steer. And maybe not a bad thing, if you
ever got stuck in freeway traffic, you left leg would pay the price, cramping
and teaching you to cuss the clutch, so maybe the automatic was a blessing. And
after many a sore leg from traffic jams on I-15, all our cars now have
automatics, and have for years. Reducing us all to right foot only drivers for
the most part, although some still use the clutch foot to balance. But the left
leg has become a useless appendage in new cars, and some day when
anthropologists look back, and note how adults 50 years ago had larger left
legs, they will be puzzled as to why until they look to the car and the way its
shifts. The legend of the left leg and its demise will be another concession to
convenience, telling us how far we haven’t really gone in progress. And
hopefully it will take generations until this left hand clutch phenomena takes
place among bikers, remember when we all had arms like Popeye...”now we just
point and lean...”they’ll tel us. And wonder how we ever managed to drive or
ride such ancient contraptions. But for now it is all about clutchless shifting
and the legend of the disappearing left leg.
Now if you have ever done a burn out, heel or towed your car in the
mountains, or tried to start uphill with a clutch, you know it takes skill to do
it, and now that skill is not needed any more. On some cars a dead foot pedal
has replaced the clutch pedal, a place to rest your foot, to keep it from
feeling useless. A pacifier for the foot, attached to the slowly atrophying
leg, once useful but now deemed useless by the absence of the clutch. A
noteworthy event proving the second law of thermodynamics, that things are
constantly in state of atrophy, we are not evolving but just the opposite, since
the fall in the Garden, and it is a physical law, sorry Mr. or Ms.
Evolutionist-even cars fall prey to laws! And the Yuppie term “taking it to the
next level” now has a new meaning, a term I am not fond of, and use here under
duress.
Taking it to the next level for these faux personalities, to them means
more for themselves-for money, bigger house, more income, and more about me.
But in real life, when many take it to the next level, the next level is one
flight down. To many their best years are behind them, explain that Ms.
Evolutionist, and only makes room for the more more aggressive feeding on the
lesser. Survival of the fittest, but not the best. And so when the other night
a man asked for prayer, he wanted to go to the next level with God, I prayed
with him, but warned him the closer we get to God, the tougher things will
get. Not all blue skies and green valleys. The road gets rougher, but Jesus
is tougher than any road, and will take you through it, and you will get closer
to Him along the way. Works for Old Testament people too, ask Zachariah, but in
God’s way, not ours. The people were given the job to rebuild their homes, but
after a few days got tired, and quit. So they went to God, asking if they could
build His temple, going to the next level. But He surprised them when He told
them no, for if they can’t do a simple job, how do they expect to do a greater
one? And since God is a god of order, first things first. And since it is His
plan, not theirs, it is better to obey, for all things will work for their
good. So we find that the next level cannot be attained without competing the
current one, and that the next elevator can go down as well as up. And that
someday they may become as useless as the left leg, no more clutch, left leg
isn’t needed, and will atrophy and go away. Not exactly the result planned, but
received none the less. And so we find a walk, or drive with God requires Him
leading, and us following. Foot on the clutch, ready to go when needed, all
that power just a left foot away. Or so how it used to be.
Today God may ask you to go to a level that you never have before. You may
need to drive a 5 speed, but only have auto experience. Be glad we have Him to
rest on, or your walk with Him may soon go the way of the left leg. Replaced by
something easier, but less threatening and less rewarding. Going down the same
road, but also missing out on many roads due to not allowing God to take you.
Pointing and steering is no way to go through life, let alone your driving
experience. Let God direct, you follow. And if the road changes, follow Him,
for great roads have curves and elevation changes, but not all up. That next
level you are looking for may be below you, and you may have to drive a
stick...taking you places other can go, but can’t drive, they will only be along
for the ride. And some will still drift into the bay, like Cosby’s example, not
even knowing it. But you will, for you will have chosen the way of Jesus of
all others. And you will have strong left leg to prove it, for it takes all of
you to follow. Arms, legs, hands, and feet. Joni also sang in the same song,
“help me I think I’m falling...” in love with Christ I hope. For the rest of
you, I hope you aren’t stuck in raffic long, wears out the leg. Sorry, I just
remembered you can’t drive a clutch, you pulled over long ago. Get back into
the race and follow Christ. Whether 3 on the tree or four on the floor, it
beats missing out on the ride of your life. The atrophying in your left leg may
only be a symptom of the heart, taking it to the next level, and not the one you
expect. Decreasing radiuses are for curves, not legs. Another landmark in the
history of man, taking you to the next level. Zach found out the hard way.
Don’t you. What does your left foot do while driving?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com