air strips, drag strips, and strips of mall

 It takes a lot of flat, straight paved surface to land a plane, unless you are Murdock from The A Team.  So when flying became the new and trendy way to get there when you positively, needed to get there quick, small airports sprung up around the country sides.  Unlike their big city counterparts, much of the time they were quiet, and an invitation to drag race.  Seeing who got from stop light to stop light was recognized in American Graffiti, but it was popular even if the light was just a sign, who can get there quickest.  So through efforts to organize, timing events sprung up at airports, clubs founded, and drag racing found a home.  Quite popular for years, soon drag strips like Raceway Park, Ontario, and Pomona sprung up, backed by investors with cash, and for a profit.  But as time wore on, and drag racing waned, the land was worth more in So Cal for housing, so strip malls, or malls of strips, took their place.  Where once you could smell rubber and nitro burning, now it was BBQ’s and diapers, as those who once raced were now raising a family.  From air strip, to drag strip, to strip mall, all in one generation.  So where do the drag racers of today race, they return to the streets, where it is dangerous, illegal, and very deadly. With cruise nights appearing for old fast guys to share memories and their cars.  While other families cruise by and wonder how it must have been like, in their Prius, Hybrid, or sexy SUV.  AC on, windows up.  How cool cars used to be and the people who drove them.....what cars will we be drawn to see in 20 years?

I’m sure our parents and grandparents said the same thing, walking us past Packards, Hudsons, Nashes, and Studebakers.  Telling stories of racing through corn fields, how one night they hit the ton on the speedo, how the old family car had pleasant memories and smells.  How slow their parents drove, and how once we got our licenses we were going to change all that.  But don’t you guys have the same fun...Every time I go past the malls where Riverside Raceway used to be, or ride past Ontario on the 10, or see signs for El Toro, I think of the racing, the times spent together, and the fun that was had.  Names like Isky, Moon, Edelbrock, Hooker, and others, memorized from stickers, and dream of those days again.  Think TROG, and you may be closer than you think.

TROG, The Race of Gentlemen, started up in Wildwood, New Jersey a few years back, nothing newer than 1937 for cars, or 1947 for bikes.  Run what you brung, on an 1/8 mile drag strip on the beach.  Flag girls for starters, no ET’s to brag on, just racing for fun, the way it used to be.  Gudge racing, “I’ll get you next time.”  Except the weekend they wanted to return to Pismo Beach.  It rained, like it never rains here, the beach flooded, and the track moved away from the tides.  Despite the rain, the crowds were huge, and everyone was ready to race, even in the rain.  Until the State of California Parks Department stepped in.  The course had to be inspected for sea turtles!  Only in California, where all the great car songs came from, would a race be held up to look for sea turtles.  But when none were found, seems they are racing fans too and wanted to see the race, it went off.  Losing a ton of money, and vowing never to return.  Between the fiscal discomfort and the state, it seems racing still has a place in Jersey.  But not here.....and not an air strip, or strip mall insight.  Just an empty beach, where for one afternoon there was a dragstrip....and maybe the most fun you can have with your clothes on!  With no word from the turtles on fun, in their shell or out of it.

Fun was what it was, and today too much fun is being robbed from us.  Too many rules and regulations, just meaning more of them to break.  There was a time when there was no law, until one afternoon on a mountain and Moses talked with God.  He came back with Ten Commandments for the people to live by, six for human to human, four for human to God.  Seems it is easier  to get along with God, less rules.  But there were over 600 laws to follow of how to conduct life, just in case, ten wasn’t enough, and even today the Ten Commandments hang in courtrooms, at least for now, and are a basis for our democracy.  But it comes down to simply, get along with God, and get along with his people.   Which Jesus brought down to those two, love him with all your might, heart, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Might even fit on a t-shirt.  Pure religion, that of love for the creator and savior, and of man, created in his image.  And then man took over....

One night in our men’s study, it was decided to study on the holy spirit.  After praying for God’s spirit to guide us, Ken in charge, said “now let’s lay out the rules..”  What?  Rules for following the spirit?  Doesn’t Jesus have something to say about following God or following man?  If we have the spirit and walk in it as we are allowed to do, do we need rules?  Funny how hidden in many churches purpose statement, really a set of rules they try to live by and enforce, the spirit may be mentioned if at all, but given no authority.  No wonder Christians are asked “what does your church believe?”  And how important it is what it does believe.  Some allow true freedom following the spirit, where the service is not choreographed, where maybe today we all pray, today we are taught, and maybe today just wait on the spirit, worshipping and honoring him for who he is.  We are told where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, why are we so afraid of that liberty, but cling to our rules?

Just go back to Jesus’ two commandments, and see the freedom in them.  If we are forgiven, we forgive others, including ourselves, so we can love ourselves, and then love others.  All because Jesus loved us first.  And forgave us, first.  Yet some study to be approved by studies and religion, abandoning the spirit, and chasing after man.  How many of us pray like Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will, but yours be done.”  Or see in the Lord’s prayer the four toughest words you will ever pray, “thy will be done.”  With an immediate promise, “on earth as it is in heaven.”  Yet too many dark hearts inhabit pulpits.  No Jesus, no spirit, no light to shine of his love.  Just rules to break....and losing sight of the prize we all have awaiting us in his glory.  On earth, as it is in heaven...that’s reality for a true believer.

But the race goes on, for our souls.  An endurance race Paul calls it, and we are in it to win it.  Despite the storms, the bumpy courses, all the rules devised by men and religion, we still have the spirit calling to us in that still and small voice, quiet enough to be heard above the headers, and still calling our names.  That light that once shone bright in your life can be lit again by the holy spirit, who never has left you, he is always with you.  Need more power, more wisdom, a rest between heats, he is there.  At a loss for words, he will supply them.  Scared and confused, he will comfort you.  Overwhelmed with religion, he will rescue you.  Don’t be like the game warden looking for sea turtles that were smart enough to abandon the race course, stay the course in the spirit.  His way, the way, says Jesus.  Who left us his spirit to assist us while still on earth.  Providing all we need, and all we don’t. 

The racers that day at Pismo were a dedicated bunch, no storm was going to stop them.  As a Christian, don’t let the storms stop you.  Even Barney Fife got it right, “first rule is obey all rules,” the first rule of love, of which there is no law against.  Straight and narrow isn’t just for a drag strip....it can also define the quickest way between you and God.....

love with compassion,

Mike

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