Traveling through the midwest in farm country, we are reminded of the
passing of another American icon, the old car junk yard. At one time a blight
on many landscapes, laws, social pressures, and the EPA have crushed or recycled
many of these places out of existence. Now for sure I wouldn’t want to live
next door to one, but they sure are fun to visit, and those remaining are often
hidden behind high metal fences, which can be more of a blight. But at one time
for my generation, and those preceding us, they were a ready source of cheap
available parts for fixing our first cars. We learned the term junk yard dog
from the old barking beast we were warned would get us if we ever climbed in
over the wall after hours, usually he just liked being petted. We learned what
to call certain parts, where the best ones were to pull, and using the Hollander
manual, which parts would cross over from one model and year to the next. Truly
a learning experience denied by today’s generation, where parts are labeled on
how to recycle them, online used parts buying has replaced it, the computer age
changing junk yards forever. Now they are salvage yards, how stylish.
Mention the term junk yard today, and visions of garages appear, but to us
junk yards meant adventure, as many encouraged you to go pick your own part.
Bring your own tools, NO TOOLS LOANED, and you were on your own. And many times
going home with hood ornaments, gauges, knobs, and trim you hadn’t planned on.
As we picked our parts, the cars were picked apart, until finally nothing was
left to use, and they were finally crushed. Sometimes sad, as to us seemingly
good parts were crushed, and it was sad to see an old car finally put to rest,
it had become a friend. Cars that although they were no longer drivable, were
still useful to help others along until they to finally were used up. Frequent
visitors actually would notice when one was gone, or while on the lookout for
parts for another friend’s car. A time and a place in Americana that is lost
forever, with just stories from the old timers of finding starters for $5, hood
ornaments for a buck, AC compressors for $10, and that needed part no longer
available from the dealer still functional and available if you picked it
yourself. How many older or wrecked cars gave their parts so remaining ones
could live and survive was never recorded, only the annals of our memories
record them. As today’s kids look on in wonderment of our tales.....
But also just as sad was the passing of the parts counter guy, the one who
gave you a hard time because you were a kid, who seemingly gave you an education
while giving you a hard time. They knew their cars and their parts, often by
number, and location. Sometimes giving you a better deal because you were out
of cash, no plastic back then, or he could see how close you were to finishing a
job. “Get me next time, now get out!” never reminding you, both never
forgetting. Bonds of friendship made that we pass on to the next guys fixing
their rides. Experience not found in any school curriculum or web site, for
experience cannot be taught. Seeing how the car was built by taking off parts
gave us an inside look to how they were made, a look behind the scenes, and a
life story reminder of no matter how old or picked apart, there was still some
life left in them, and us.
Proverbs reminds us that our children’s children are our crown, and the
glory of children is their fathers. Something lost in our society today. But
becoming a grandfather for the first time last week, my joy is found in my son
and his joy in becoming a parent. How he looks to me for advice, uses our
experiences as an example of what to do, and what not to do, and blesses us by
showing us his love for his son. Sadly too many old people are shipped off to
homes, being robbed of the joy we have, but also robbing themselves of the joy
of their fathers. Jesus made it clear that everything he did he did because of
his father, and to please him. So close were they, they operated as one single
unit, and along with the holy spirit have everything under control. He never
gives credit to himself, but tells his disciples that every word he gives them
comes from his father. He gives God the glory in them, and this is the example
he wants us to see. His relationship with his father is the example he wants us
to follow, to gain entrance to all the joys of heaven, on earth as it is there,
now, and then later. But yet many are just waiting for heaven, missing out on
the right now, neglecting to see that when Moses asked “who do I say you are?”
God didn’t answer “I will be tomorrow or I was yesterday, he clearly stated “I
am.” An eternal right now, out of time, but in time perfectly. When Jesus told
them “I am in the father and he is in me,” it is and was and will be right now
to us. But with our disobedience, or lack of trusting, we see too many lives on
the junk heap just waiting to die, picked apart, vandalized, and finally used up
and crushed. Their purpose served, sold for scrap. Aren’t lives more valuable
than cars?
As I get older I find more opportunities to share with the younger ones. I
may be an old rider with over a million miles under me, but through my
experiences the younger ones can learn, as my son learned, and as he will teach
his son. And on and on. But without that relationship of father and son, my
life is just picked apart, with many parts still useful, hidden away and not
seen. Only God knows, and that is where the relationship with Jesus and his
father shines brightest, God knows. And because I know Jesus, I know God. The
best thing a parent can pass onto their children, Jesus Christ. And as long as
you still have breath, you still have value to them, for your young men will
dream dreams, and your old men will have visions. What you see depends on where
you have been, which influences where you are going. You cannot teach
experience, but you can attain it, you can visit it, and you can be a part of
it. Just as old cars tell a story, so do old men, just waiting for the right
audience, you may be that audience today. God is giving you one right now with
him....
So seek counsel from one who knows, who has been there. Listen to their
testimonies, ask them questions, and spend time with them. Don’t wait until
they are picked apart, see your father as Jesus saw his, and begin to really
live. That old junk yard dog may have been barking because he really only
wanted to be petted....don’t forget to bring a treat or two, and make a new
friend today. Used doesn’t mean used up, after all, if new was so great, why do
they come with a warranty?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com