Mr. La Bar still sells Hudsons

 Can it really be 70 years since Hudson stunned the automotive world with its step down designed new cars?  Up until then cars were still pretty much based on the old horse and buggy chassis, riding high and above the frame, it was Hudson who moved out the frame rails and nestled the occupants between the frame rails.  Allowing for more width for three across seating, take note Mr. SUV seven seater, Hudson seated six without adding a third or fourth row!  But it also allowed for the seating positions to be lowered, as sitting within the frame rails instead of on and above, allowed better handling.  Which showed on the track in early NASCAR racing, as Hudson won many races and championships, using an older flathead design, VS. contemporary valve in head V-8’s.  Basic physical laws proved them right, the results followed.  But after seven years of the same body style, and sales declining, Hudson merged with Nash, becoming American Motors, which was later bought by Chrysler, who was merged, raped and pillaged by Daimler Benz, and then narrowly avoided bankruptcy by being given to FIAT, forming FCA, FIAT Chrysler America.  No more Twin H power, no more step down, now just another orphan car but at one time stunned the automotive world and changed how cars were built. 

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday was the mantra for car sales once, it has diminished now, as there are no true stock cars in NASCAR, the SC in their name standing for Stock Car, the rules have changed, and so has racing.  1954 was a turning point for Hudson, and O.E. LaBar Hudson in Bangor, Pennsylvania remained a Hudson dealer into the seventies, more than 20 years after merging.  When my Grandpa and I stopped in one day, Mr. La Bar, old by even my young standards was suspicious.  He had a 1953 Hornet convertible on the showroom floor, new parts still in new boxes on the shelf, and two Hudson pickups, rare even when new, he used as shop trucks.  But he wasn’t open for the casual observer, he was an active dealer who never gave up his franchise to become an AMC dealer like Pat Ronco had down the road with his Nash store.  After he saw I truly loved Hudsons, he gave us a tour, each car there being identified by its owner, Mr. White’s 1948 Wasp, Mrs. Speer’s 1951 Hornet, traded in against a newer 1954 model.  But never worked on anything newer than 1954, the year Hudson gave up and merged.  No more real Hudsons, Hashes as they were referred too.  And after 45 minutes we were gone, with a new insight into the Hudson Motor Company, its cars, its dealers, and its owners.  A car more than the sum of its nuts and bolts, which reminds me of the depth of some relationships, while others pale by comparison.  If Mr. La Bar went out of business, he asked, “who will take care of my customers after the company deserted them?”

In case you didn’t know it, the most profitable area in a car dealership is the service department.  Living in a fallen world, we might buy new cars to replace the old ones, but they too will someday need repairs and maintenance.  And who will service them?  Jesus was faced with the same problem, who will take care of my disciples and believers when I am gone?  Yet God had it planned since before the beginning, and sent his spirit to guide, comfort, counsel, and lead.  How the 12 minus Judas must have wondered “now what?” and we find the going back to their old jobs.  But one night, we see Peter out fishing, having a tough night, when Jesus approaches him on the beach.  Recognizing him, he is asked three times by Jesus, “do you love me?”  Most theologians believe he was referring to the night just weeks earlier when Peter denied Jesus to a little girl, I don’t.  In asking him three times, and answering Peter with “then feed my children,” we miss the answer we need to minister.  We are a people of body, soul, and spirit, and we have physical needs, emotional needs, and spiritual needs.  Each individual and different, and can only be ministered to when the need is identified.  Spiritually.  Peter take care of the physical needs, address the emotional needs, and let the spirit guide you in all, including the spiritual needs.  Three types of problems, each with a specific need.  You can have a good attitude with a broken leg, the leg still needs to heal.  You can be healthy but miserable, you still need an attitude adjustment, and you can be healthy and happy, but still need Jesus.  One size answer will not meet all the individual needs.  Only by the spirit will we know and know what to do.  Which explains why only weeks after his denial, he led 3000 to the Lord on Pentecost.  By the spirit, who gave him the words needed.  It was the spirit that changed Peter and the others, not themselves. Jesus was preparing Peter for ministry that night on the beach.  If only we can see the need for the spirit, what a difference our lives would make.

I attended a Hudson meet a few months ago, good people passionate about their cars.  Each with a story to tell, spending time with the car, developing a relationship.  Cars taken care of tenderly by their owners, and it reminded me of how Jesus takes care of us, his children.  We need cleaning, maintenance, repairs, and need to be driven regularly.  If not, we begin to atrophy, we begin to leak, show signs of wear, and soon end up an orphan, no one wants to be with us.  But Christ renews us, giving us the energy to carry on, and when we follow his leading, we enjoy the blessing he has for us.  Sadly I see more devotion to a cause at car shows than I do among some Christians.  Who believe their church, their religion, their way to worship is the best or only.  It takes the Mr. LaBar’s of the world to keep Hudsons going, it takes the spirit to maintain us.

Hudson made its last hurrah based on its step down design.  Do we remember the design of Jesus, who stepped down from heaven, and became lower than the angels for a while to serve us?  To die for us and bring us back into fellowship with God?  The step down design was new and brave in 1948, Jesus made it popular thousands of years earlier.  There truly is nothing knew under the sun, what appears new is only new to us, what is your answer when Jesus asks “do you love me?”  Will you serve him?  Do you have the commitment of Mr. La Bar, who knows all his cars and customers by name, and who when the company retired, never quit?   Jesus asked his disciples “can you stay awake just one more hour?”  Without Jesus, who is taking care of you needs?  The ministry needs Mr. La Bars, many are called, few are chosen.  Do you really love Jesus?  Then feed his sheep.  Not a baaad idea....remember the car that drove Miss Daisy!

love with compassion,

MIkematthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

things I learned from women who know nothing about cars

I have learned that listening is a valuable tool to solving problems.  But so is asking questions.  When I would get a complaint of “my car does it all the time,” my first question is “is it doing it right now?  No, well then it isn’t doing it all the time.”  And through a series of questions could narrow down the complaint, and address it.  But with the increase of electrics in cars, the playing field changed, and old questions would get new answers, and often frustration on the part of the owners.  Men just expected us to fix it, women would read the manual, then ask questions, so you better have an answer.  But two older women gave me insight one day, insight that I have applied to my life and ministry.  A long time Mercedes Benz customer, this woman had an older car, almost 20 years old.  She knew the drill, and how much maintenance cost, yet gladly paid it.  Asking her one day “why don’t you buy a new car, with all the money you spend on this one, you could afford it.”  Her answer surprised me, “because I feel comfortable in this one.  I can easily afford another, but I know where all the buttons are on this one.  No surprises, and I really don’t want to learn about the new ones.”  Good answer, she had a relationship with her car, it served her purposes, so why change, why trade it in?

Later another older woman proved her point to me, both women unknown to each other.  She had just bought a new S class, and couldn’t work the sound system.  She knew the buttons on her old radio, but this one was confusing, and was constantly talking to her.  So sitting in the car with her, I counted the buttons on the dash, 39 of them.   It confused me!  And the voice was from her GPS giving her directions, she didn’t know what a GPS was, or how to turn it off.  I figured it out, we laughed, but you could see her car wasn’t bringing her much happiness.  When I jokingly told her “if you have a problem, ask a teenager, they know about all the is stuff,” she smiled and said she would.  The next time I saw her she told me how her grandson had helped her out, and now the two go out together for rides and an ice cream.  She even knows the way without the GPS!

But it was my mother who had really pointed all this out to me years earlier.  Her car never went more than 10 miles in any direction, and was getting old after 15 years.  She had gone looking, the first thing that turned her off was the price, and the story of how she had paid less for her home, 35 years ago.  The second was she liked her car, so why trade it.  But the last was, she felt safe in it, she knew all the buttons, the squeaks and rattles, it was easy to park and drive, and most of all, it was paid for.  That advice had been given me years ago, it took me years to use it, and from a woman who wouldn’t know a master cylinder from top dead center.  She knew her car, not cars, and that made her happy.  WOW!  My mother teaching me about cars?  Is it possible that MOM is really WOW upside down?  Maybe it is how we look at things....

Jesus tells us that true freedom comes from doing his will.  From staying in his word, and following his spirit.  We establish a relationship with him, and what we are doing is discipleship.  We come to a point in our relationship where we just trust him, and as for those who ask “What would Jesus do?” they know, because they know Jesus.  While so many emphasize being in the word, they have the word, Jesus Christ in them, which changes everything.  The gospel is simple and basic, yet man has added rules, tradition, and religion to it, making it more complicated.  When a friend asked his pastor recently about the Pharisees, his answer didn’t match up to scripture.  So he asked more, and soon they were off the subject.  Too many buttons, too many complications, all he did was ask a question because he wanted to know.  This man had studied to be approved, but only found his approval in his relationship with God.  He prayed, the spirit directed him, and he found his confirmation in the word.  So if you ask “what would Jesus do?” he would remind you of his spirit he has given us, how he has given us his word to back it up, and how his word is the truth, not just a truth.  And how it really sets you free when you live by it.  Asking is OK, but having a relationship with Jesus is the way, and being guided by his spirit how he designed it.  Yet too many stray when the don’t get an answer, or the one they want.  Religion will confuse them, as religion is designed to do, Jesus came to save us from it.  Remember it was the religious Pharisees who were his enemies....

So keep the gospel simple, learn by doing, not just hearing.  Spend time with Jesus in the word, but also in spirit.  It is the spirit that reveals the mysteries of Christ to us, and you don’t always have a Bible handy.  Just being in the word is bad advice to someone where they are persecuted for having one, yet how do they know so much about Jesus?  Could it be the same spirit that Jesus gave them that he gave us?  I am not saying do not read your Bible, read it all you can, but be directed by the spirit.  If you don’t have one handy, remember Jesus has written his word on your heart, so it is always available by the spirit.  Read Psalm 1, then do it.

I once asked a man who had highlighted almost all of his Bible why he did it?  “It seemed important enough to be remembered at the time,” I carry the same highlights in my heart.  Readable in the dark, when riding, while even in church.  Maybe knowing Jesus is just as simple as not having too many buttons on the dash, and why so many I know are fleeing big churches, and finding what they need in small groups or home fellowship.  Still confused or looking, go back to the basics.  Get back to Jesus.  It started with him, did he get lost in the shuffle?  Or did we?  Give me a radio with on/off volume and a few presets.  Keep it simple like my religion, and watch me enjoy it more.  Jesus told us “he who has an ear let him hear.”  Whether on AM, FM, satellite or CD, Jesus’ message is always the same.  So keep the gospel simple as it was designed and free so it is affordable.  Keep Jesus as the main thing, technology changes, Jesus never does.  And refer to the owner’s manual he has given you regularly.  Right there on page 1 it tells the truth, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  If you can’t get past that, you will have problems with everything else.  Religion may give you many buttons to push, only by the spirit will you know which one.  If it works for women who know nothing about cars, imagine what it can do for those of you who do.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

 

let there be light

When I first started riding, we rode like The Wild Ones, finding roads and following them, not knowing what laid ahead.  We were not wild and crazy party riders, but out for fun and a way to release ourselves from weekly job and girlfriend pressures.  So off on our 350 Hondas we rode, thinking we were bad, at least to our parents we were, but the reality was we just rode too far into the night many times, and it was too far, too cold, too something to return home.  So being cool, we would just find a place in the woods to sleep and get up early and continue.  We even had the Halsey Knox toothbrush thing down, always carrying one in our back pockets, after all we were not savages.  Young and foolish, read full of fun, many a Jersey weekend was spent out among the roads, crashing until dawn, waiting for daylight.

One night in particular, we rode way too far, and worn out from exhaustion and cold, pulled into a group of trees and cuddled up next to our Hondas for the night.  A warm morning sun woke us up, only to find the woods we thought we were in was really a few trees in someone’s front yard.  We had all but parked in their driveway, and could look into their front windows from where we laid.  And they could see us!  In the darkness we had parked and slept in someone’s front yard!  We hurriedly got up, rode and went into the first diner we came upon.  Cold and a bit shaken, mornings like this are the reason I only drink hot tea on cold rides, as we warmed up we began to laugh about our campground.  In the darkness we had chosen what  we thought to be a secluded area, only to find ourselves in the heart of suburbia.  Only at the break of day were we alerted, and we quickly fled.  Somewhere between fear and embarassment...

When God said let there be light, I now have a pretty good idea about how dark the earth must have been.  No wonder there was no life, there was nothing to see.  Today Jesus promises us light, that he is the light of the world, and that whoever follows him will never live in darkness.  Brighter than our primitive headlights, Jesus can guide us into safety and out of danger, he knows the way.  But we must keep our eyes on the road that he is on, or we end up in a ditch.  Or like one night almost hitting a moving train in a rural area, where there were no flashing lights at the crossing.  I now also understand whey people get hit by trains, they never hear them coming.  Fortunately God did and I stopped just in time.  Reminding us just how important light can be when riding....

But until we are saved we don’t know the depth of darkness we are living in.  Maybe we are familiar with our surroundings, and can get around in the dark.  Maybe a dim light allows us to go on, but still wary of our walk.  But when Jesus lights the path, we can see around us, ahead and behind, for we see it in his light, which shines brighter, yet never blinds oncoming traffic.  The perfect high beam for night riding, but also illuminates our way in daylight.  It is a spiritual light that opens our eyes to the spirit, that gives us life, that wants us to get out and live more.  We see things through the eyes of Jesus, and he sees all and knows all.  Yet leaves the decision up to us, until we walk in it we never know how much we missed without it.  Or how he walked with us before our salvation.

Bikers have always waved or flashed our high beams at oncoming bikers.  We acknowledge our brotherhood and our commonness.  We want to say hello and have a safe ride, I have been doing it for so long I wave from our car sometimes.   Do we in our daily walk acknowledge Jesus the same way?  Do we wave and encourage others?  Do we pat our heads to warn of the man ahead waiting to ticket us, do we wave of danger ahead, or even consider other riders?  As Christians we are supposed to love all, even those who persecute us, yet many cast a false light.  How do we know which is true light?  Only by being in the spirit will we know, and with his light to guide us, we ride with confidence, and an anticipation of better things to come.

But those who ride without Jesus just call it luck, as if no one was in control.  How many times have you blamed luck instead of trusting God and thanking him?  He offers us the light of life, not just for dark nights.  In the fog or bright sunshine, his light is visible to those who have eyes to see, and will follow.  Your headlight cannot see what is around the next bend, Jesus does.  His light warns us of danger form the sides to, often sides we have learned to trust, but never see the danger in that trust.  Ride with Jesus, and ride in his light, it may be dark, but you aren’t part of it.

And yes, there are lights that can blind you when approaching, Cooper had some Cibie lights that could only be used above 100km/h because they put out so much heat, they needed the air to cool them.  Or you could be like Icarus and fly to close to the sun, and melt your wings.  Too much of the wrong light can be dangerous too.  But God promises to be adequate in all things, not too much, not too little, perfect in all situations.   Yet we choose to ride by artificial means....

Jesus said he was the light of the world, and whoever walks in him will never walk in darkness.  Darkness is the absence of light, what do you see when you turn of the lights at night?  What safe haven turns out to be potentially dangerous?  There is none so blind as them that cannot see, Jesus is that light.  Riding or walking, he sees us, do we see him?  And don’t forget to let a little of the light that shines on you shine on others.  For just like the two menorahs lit each night in the old temple that provided enough light for all to see, it isn’t about candlepower, or the power of the candles, it will always remain about Jesus.  So let there be light...and God saw that it was good.  Flash your highs at him today....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

helping Dad

One of my most memorable memories of growing up was spending time with my Dad.  Some of the earliest recollections are when my parents bought a new house, with an unfinished upstairs.  On Saturday morning, he would meet Henry who built the house to finish it, and I would go along.  I was probably more in the way than helpful at age 5, but I can remember picking nails, sweeping, and handing things to my Dad he asked me for.  I may not have been an intricate part of the construction, but I was helping my Dad, and that has stuck with me all these years.  I cannot remember individual events except for meeting early at the Flying A truck stop and having a 7 Up for breakfast, but it made me feel wanted and excited when I got home tired and dirty from a day’s work.  Telling my Mother all the things I did.  It was a day spent with my Father, and I think he enjoyed it just as much.

Raising my sons they were shown how to wash cars, cut yards, and the one they joke about the most, and remind me of the most, picking up turds in the yard.  They did all the little things, then worked up to bigger things.  As they got older, it was a joy to see them wash the car, to take care of the details, to wash the motorcycles, and help out around the house.  Often without being asked, they saw something that needed to be done, and wanted to please us, doing it to the standards we had shown them.  We were blessed and still are to have the help out, and remembered how much an encouraging word of thanks means to them.  An acknowledgment of  job well done, a blessing to us, and a blessing to them by blessing us. We tried to encourage our sons to help, sometimes reluctantly, sometimes willingly, and sometimes being coerced by a reward or promise, but they generally did.  And still do....but they now have their own lives.  And it is a blessing to see the good things we are passing on to them, they are passing on.  Seems the words get forgotten, but the actions don’t.  Probably a lesson in there for all of us....

Personally I am tired of hearing about the woman accused of adultery by her accusers.  So much is said about her and her accusers, as to what Jesus wrote in the dirt, and how they fled one by one.  Leaving her face to face with Jesus, one to one.  His famous words “go and sin no more” have echoed in churches for years, but how could he say that?  What did he know the others didn’t?  What had really happened here that we aren’t told of?  How could he tell this woman supposedly caught in sin to just go and sin no more?

The same way he tells us when we are saved.  Something happens where we take on a new nature, we become new creatures in Christ.  Behold the old is passed away, and in this meeting, among her accusers and enemies, her heart changed.  So did the accusers, who couldn’t stand in the righteousness, but she could.  She had become that new creature, she saw Jesus for who he was, and repented.  Maybe not the words, but God looks on the heart, and he saw the change.  Maybe written in the dirt was the gospel, you must be born again.  Whatever it was, it caused all there to turn to Jesus, or to turn away.  Just like when the spirit confronts us and asks us to make a decision on who Jesus really is.  But how can he say to her go and sin no more?  Maybe the same way he says to us....

He know we will sin again, but our heart has been changed, and the willingness is gone.  We are a work in process, not perfect yet, and will stumble and fall, make bad decisions, and go astray.  We still need the great shepherd to guide us, protect us, and reunite us after our latest sins get between us.  There is no way on her own she can keep from sinning, it takes the spirit to guide, and our willingness to obey and follow.  He doesn’t forgive us so we can return to our sinful past, but so we can go ahead with him, in his spirit.  When our sins are forgiven we change, go and live differently, start a new life, and spend more time with our Dad in heaven.  Abba Father, Jesus tells us, just call him Dad.  And now she could because she was part of the family and had all the rights and blessings of the kingdom.  While her accusers left, she stayed with Jesus.  Forgiveness is designed to set us free, to allow us to have a hope and a new future.  Jesus is not foolish enough to think she would never sin again, just as we will too.  But now we know like she did how sin is replaced by forgiveness and grace, when seeing Jesus for who he is.  Not a set of rules to follow, but an actual person.  A person who is set free to be all we can be in Christ.  We remember the words Jesus spoke to her, do we fail to see the action? 

And God doesn’t need our help, only our participation.  Just like my Dad probably could get more done without a 5 year old’s help, he included me, and it was time well spent.  A new part of our relationship was formed and I was able to see and say what my Dad and I had done together.  As a team, no matter how little I helped, still part of the team.  You can become the part of God’s team today, just like the woman caught sin, or walk away, coming face to face with Jesus, but rejecting his message.  Simply written in the same dirt he created us from, showing us the way back to his father.  Helping Dad as he was instructed to do, obeying what his father told him, but doing it willingly so we can be reunited to him in heaven.  We pray that by his hand we must be fed, give us Lord our daily bread.  But how many only hear the words, but never see the writing?  One accused, and many accusers did, only one changed.  Go and sin no more.  If only the men had reacted to the message in the dirt, they too would  have been set free.  To go and sin no more.  They missed out on the real message, for God doesn’t condemn, Jesus came to save.  Doing it right in front of all to see.  He wrote the message in the dirt, but really it was transferred to the woman’s heart.  Nothing is mentioned about what happened to the writing, was it erased or left for others to see.  Did any of the men go back and view it again?  What did they do the next time they saw Jesus on the street?  The woman?  One woman was saved, how many seeds thrown that day we’ll never know.  Jesus never passed them up, but what he passed on made them make a decision.  Time well spent with him, and his dad.  Abba Father, how many of us have an unfinished upstairs and don’t know it?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com