Friday, January 30, 2015

it ran fine until I worked on it










The words “can be easily assembled using hand tools” has brought terror into many a father’s life. I know it has me, as sometimes even following the directions, I end up with something that doesn’t look like the picture on the box. And I usually end up with a handful of unused nuts and bolts....sound familiar? I used to feel intimidated by the trendy types on HGTV who can turn a pile of wood chips into a dresser, my skills supply them with the wood chips. And over the years there have been various injuries, none life but only ego threatening when I was forced to fix something. It seems somewhere between my brain and hands the message gets lost, and my hands never get. Assuming my brain ever did. And yesterday I was reminded by a friend when he told me how his bike ran fine, until he worked on it. And he is a trained mechanic, but known for overlooking the obvious. Ever go to adjust the chon, and end up with it looser? NO, turn it the other left. Or lubricate the floor under your car when you forgot to replace the drain plug after draining the oil. Leaving you no way to get to the store to buy more, or rags to clean it up. One day I offered to lube a friend’s clutch cable, and ended up with STP everywhere but in the cable, that stuff really is slick. “Have you checked the timing?” has resulted in trips to the dealer with the bike in the back of a truck. Have you ever tightened a bolt just one more turn, turning the bolt into a stud when the head breaks off in your socket, ruing both a good bolt and a $1.50 socket? Have you ever panicked when smoke started coming from your battery after hooking up the cables backwards? And finally when all else fails, read the owners manual, or take it to the shop where it should have gone in the first place. Where the joke is “here comes Mike, I guess he worked on his (fill in the blank) again.” Stupid hurts, remember that next time the door won’t pull open while staring at the push sign. Just pull the other way. Turn to the other right. Twist the other clockwise.....and hide all hand tools from me!
At Mercedes Benz I had an old tech who was experienced, but gruff. Great at fixing things as long as the human contact wasn’t involved. One day a woman came in complaining that her AC didn’t blow. He reached under the hood, replaced a fuse, and sudden AC. “How much?” she asked. $20,” he replied. “Just for replacing a fuse,” she argued. But his answer was priceless, “but I knew which one.” Maybe you can’t teach experience, but you can sure pay attention and benefit from others. I actually sat in a doctor’s office once, a friend complaining that when he raised his hands, his shoulders hurt. The advice, “don’t do it.” He also told me once all my problems were from the shoulders up, still not sure what that meant. And so many doctors, mechanics, parts stores, and those who fix things are doing quite well, or able to retire early due to me trying to fix things. Maybe the only smart guy here was Tim the Toolman Taylor who made a career out of stupid. And laughed all the way to the bank. Someone we could associate with, and laugh with, rather than having someone laugh at us, or laughing at ourselves. Nothing impresses more than stupid...except for maybe the excuses made afterwards.
God has given us a simple hand tool, it is called the Bible. After teaching the other night, a woman asked if I had any literature about our church. I got a strange look when I told her the Bible. Your church is about it, right? But form time to time I get invited to Bible studies where they are studying the newest book of how to get closer to God. The latest offering a man told me about was how to pray. A Christian for 15 years, he still didn’t get it that prayer is a conversation with God? He was looking for the secret to Jesus, yet it is no secret, and is found in the Bible. Which only works if read, which means you have to open it. Using no hand tools, only your hands. One man offered memorizing the Bible using a best seller, not the best seller. Which he was trying to memorize. Some attend self help classes, or read positive mental attitude books. The glass isn’t half empty, it’s half full, they are the opposite of half slow half fast. So many seek and never find when the truth is there the whole time. Right in front of us, but somehow escapes us. I refer to Psalm 1,
 
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
 
In today’s words, hang out with Jesus. Don’t listen to others advice, seek his. No extra books needed, read your Bible, pray and watch as the spirit leads you. Quote me on that, but quote Jesus on everything else. Not me. Meditate, think about him, read about him, pray with him. Don’t ask for opinions, deal with the truth, the person of Jesus Christ. Why read anything else but a best seller? Hey, even the pictures are good.
Lives need fixing, so be like the Psalm says. We have a sticker on our truck that says, “for some there is therapy, for he rest of us there are motorcycles.” Works in life too, some study, some seek, but the truth is only found in Jesus. Your life will only run better if you let Jesus fix it. No left over parts, no missed rides. No extra bills. Delight in Jesus, hi slaw is love, his yoke is easy, and his promises yea and amen. Lifetime warranty. And he fixes broken parts, replaces them with factory originals-he is the factory. So be like my old tech, when asked about books to read, how to get closer to God, point him to Jesus. I know which one. Now if I can only find where I my funnel is, I need to top off the oil, just a little....and I hope it runs after I work on it.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com