it's brown and sounds like a bell

Question, what’s brown and sounds like a bell?  Answer later.

The first time I saw Durango, Colorado, I made the comment that if I had to shovel horse turds to live there, I would do it.  Apparently someone heard my prayer, as I ended up working at a gas station, Trailways depot, and petroleum jobber for $2.25/hour.  We sold diesel, Stoddard solvent, propane, and kerosene by the gallon or pound, baking in the summer heat at 6500’ altitude, and freezing at below zero in the winter months.  How many trips were made for two bucks of gas, we were a full service station, or walking to the back lot to fill a propane tank, when the contents were as cold as the outside air.  Little old ladies coming in with their Mason jars for 30 cents of coal oil, aka kerosene, to light their fires at home.  All done without gloves, as the small lock and key were unusable with bulky gloves.  Changing tires and fixing flats, scraping snow from windshields while the owner sat inside with the heater on full.  Some nights so cold and clear we once spilled some diesel #2 on the ground and watched it gel immediately.  Kicking it around until it burst all over our shoes.  How many diesel owners from Texas had to have their fuel lines with our steam cleaner to free them up, afterwards washing our hands in cold water, as the owner shut off the hot, too many transients used the bath room for cleaning up.  A tough job but like I said, I said what I said......and I haven’t even gotten to the bad part yet!

We were a Trailways bus depot, we would fill the buses, and dump the crappers.  A wonderful job in the summer when the opened valve just let it explode everywhere, and then spraying the dump area and your shoes off with the hose.  But in winter, the warm turds hit the ground and froze, and you had to hit them with the water from the hose until they would soften up enough to go down the drain, or until your hands turned blue.  All because in my prayers, I made it clear to God what I would do to get my desires, to get my way.  A long way from “thy will be done...”  and I still can smell the toxic odor of the one shot blue disinfectant every once in a while, if only in my dreams/nightmares....

Two things influenced me with that job, one I never wanted to do it again, and I learned a great respect for those who do the thankless jobs for low pay that no one else wants to do.  I actually feel compassion when we go past the fields in the Central Valley, watching the migrant field workers toiling away.  I’ve been there.  When a new kid at the counter knows nothing and he waits on me, I try to be kind, I was once a trainee too.  Even the kids who cannot speak English at the fast food places, hopefully it is not their last job, and at least they are working.  Sometimes we don’t realize how good we have it until we don’t, or look back in humor at what we once did.  The job stunk literally, but we had many funny times, met a lot of people, I learned about serving, and also not to tell God how to or what I must have.  A great lesson in asking him for his will to be done...

While the Pharisees were running around telling everyone how holy they were, and  condemning those who weren’t for even breaking the smallest of laws or tradition, Jesus chose compassion.  In his travels he saw the multitude and how harassed and helpless they were, and showed compassion to them.  To one woman with multiple husbands, drawing water from a distant well as she was not permitted to use the local one, he talked with her, another Pharisee sin, and offered her living water, so she would never thirst again.  Spiritual water, for in finding Jesus she would never thirst again spiritually, but still have to go to a well for water.  Her new well would spring up from within her as she had the holy spirit dwelling in her, and a new freedom not found in the legalism of the day, or even in many religions today.  Do what we say, how we say, when we say as the pastor hides behind the pulpit.  Failing to see that more laws mean more laws to break and more sin, and lacking the compassion Jesus had on the crowd and on us individually.  How nice to hear “your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more.” 

So to those trained or raised in a setting where “Jesus is coming and boy is he mad,” or those living in a false fear of retribution from God, remember Jesus came to forgive, not to condemn.  Our sins condemn us, he saves us.  How often do we just need a hug rather than an hour sermon on his love, leaving worse off than when we arrived.  But one thing happens when we are treated harshly, we return it to others harshly, but when we are shown compassion, we can reward others with it also.  Our choice, no matter how we are treated, no matter, Jesus showed compassion to all.  If only we can remember God owns the field, sends the workers, and then rewards them, with all glory going to him, how our attitude of compassion might change.  And our prayer life...

I find it amusing today how far the church has gotten away from the gospel.  Programs, processes, and procedures dominate, but remember when Jesus asked his disciples what they wanted, they responded “teach us to pray,” and gave them the Lord’s prayer.  With the answer in two verses, “thy will be done,” the toughest four words you’ll ever pray, and “on earth, as it is in heaven,” for wherever you are, so is the spirit within you.  On earth or in heaven after death, Jesus is with you always.  So even in tough times, in wrong prayer followed by wrong actions, he never leaves us, but wants to show us compassion and redeem us.  There is nothing he cannot fix if we let him.  For we cannot do anything apart from him....and I’ve tried.

Cold hands and a cold heart are no way to go through life.  I dreaded dumping crappers but it was the job that I had signed up for, and do it or find another job.  But you get used to regular meals, and even at $2.25/hour an occasional Big Mac could be celebrated.  But it is in the toughest of times that Jesus shines the brightest, and there is always the chance that this is what God wanted, and what I needed.  So I leave it up to Jesus, he knows best, for without struggles we never get to see him at his finest hour, forgiving, giving, showing compassion, and building us up in him.  So in all things give him the glory, and leave it up to him.  In praying like in life, it helps to know which end of the shovel is preferable.  And how rewarding in door plumbing really is......seems there is a bit of Cousin Eddie in all of us after all.

So what is brown and sounds like a bell.....DUNG!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.xom

which reminds me.....

It was thinking about my old friend Brett that got me started, he the one who invited me over to see his new motorcycle, a 1974 SR 500 Yamaha, and the engine was already in the kitchen sink.  His favorite story was about a man with an old Dodge van, with three on the tree.  It kept hanging up in second gear, and he would have to reach through the grill which cut his hand to release it.  When he asked his friend to look at it, the man told him “park it across from my shop and I can see it from there,” he hated Dodges.  He received a call at five minutes to traffic jam that it was fixed, and picking it up, made it as far as the corner, where it stuck in second gear.  Getting out and cursing his mechanic friend, he noticed duct tape over the sharp edge, so he wouldn’t cut his hand.  His friend had fixed the problem, not solved it.  “You didn’t cut your hand did you?” was the response he got when asking the mechanic about his van.....well...

Which got me thinking about another old friend in Connecticut, Phil.  He was the BMW motorcycle guru in the metro area, and through my friend Geno,  we met.  He loved my R90S, and sometimes after fiddling with it, we would race around the back roads, him chasing in his old BMW with his girlfriend in the sidecar taking pictures.  I thought I was pretty cool and fast, until someone pointed out a three wheeler was keeping up with me....But what I most remember about Phil was his winter car, an old Checker cab painted Krylon green.  It always overheated, so Phil had connected the heater hoses to the heater core, so the heater was always on, great on frosty Connecticut winter days.  But hell on summer days, as I found out one day on a parts run with him.  In this case it was both the heat and the stupidity...I still wonder if sniffing all that antifreeze was good for me.....

Then there was my old friend Rex, who was rewriting the Suzuki tech manuals, correcting mistakes.  His winter car was a 1972 Torino, nice car with one exception, at 60 mph it shook like the wheels were coming off.  Seems it needed a u-joint, so Rex kept it below 60.  On one January ride from Prescott to Durango in a blizzard, crossing the Indian reservation every once in awhile he hit 60 and it shook.  I had visions of being found the next spring like the Donner party, where two guys had been found walking near the car, and after checking out the Ford and never going 60, not knowing the problem and a legacy begins....

Another old friend was of the persuasion that the 750 Honda was the best motorcycle ever made.  His was already old when I met him, and it was always breaking down, nicknamed “the bike you want to ride if you don’t want to get where you’re going.”  After the first meeting and being made fun of for using the electric leg on my bike, we finally rode off.  True to form within 30 minutes we were pulled over, which was repeated the next time we rode.  I finally came up with excuses not to ride with him, but when forced to, made sure I led, so as not to get covered in oil.  But our last ride together left the Honda smoking and groaning, and him on the phone with another Honda junkie, who owned two, so he always had one ready to ride.  Never saw him again, but every time I hear how the Honda 750 changed the world, I remember how it almost changed mine.....

And finally a Harley friend who kept oil in his saddle bags, HD brand of course, can’t use anything else.  Later I learned the two quarts were enough for a 500 mile day on an over nighter.  He measured his rides in quarts per day,while we were miles per day.  I often wonder if his bags could hold three or four quarts, would he have ridden farther.....all the time bragging how it used no oil, didn’t smoke, and he never had to service it, just keep adding oil....

Jesus tells us of the wise man who built his house upon the rock, and when the storms came was safe.  I wonder how many of us are built on that rock or on shifting sands of religion? Lots of sand and shifty people out there.   I consider people I have known over the years, the one who is always calling for prayer, who is the first one up after the service to see the pastor, but never listens to the answer.  Who when called to pray, is too busy and burdens you with her problems.  Whose radio presets are all on KWVE, yet never talks with her kids, except via texting.  And wonders what is their problem?  I get concerned about the guy who reads the Christian book of the week, and whose library is filled with commentaries.  Always seeking, just never finding, just don’t ask him.  I know Christian parents who leave the church to raise their children in the Lord, then wonder why they wander, imitating their parents’ lifestyle.  And of course that mighty church family, always blaming Satan, always under attack when they don’t get their own way.  A foot deep in pride, an inch deep in Jesus.  But Jesus tells us it is the person who puts his words into practice, who just doesn’t hear them, that is built upon the rock, his rock of salvation.  It seems foundations matter, just look at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, not built on a firm foundation, and it is tilted.  How many of us can claim Jesus is the foundation of our life, and not the things of the world, even if they sound Christian and look Christian?  How many of the poor remain that way based on poor theology?  When dealing with the Navajos, a friend once explained their theology, whenever a new evangelist came tot own, they just added his story to the existing ones, a long list of beliefs, based on no foundation.  Yes they believed in Jesus, but which one, which version, which Jesus?  A strong LDS area, where if you ain’t LDS you are nothing, they were both, LDS and nothing.  So beware...still tilting?

The Bible is not just a how to book, or just a history book.  It is God reaching out to you so we can be reunited with him despite our sin.  From the fourth word in Genesis, Jesus is there, to the end in Revelation.  Yet we all have our favorite scripture, like the man whose Bible pages are all highlighted for future reference, not reverence.  Whose life falls apart under a crisis, ruining any witness he has about him and Jesus.  Why would we want to be like him?  We used to call them carnal Christians, saved but still large and in charge, with them sitting on the throne, Jesus at their feet, to provide their every whim and want.  Sadly they don’t last long, and when the body who they need to nourish them turns on them, all of the church, us, suffers.  Jesus even warned them, “be gone, I never knew you.”  So what is your Jesus built on?  You may be a pretty building and be sinking and not know it, making excuses for your sins.  You can have all the right characteristics, read all the right books, attend the right church faithfully, but without Jesus these are just things, not bad things, but just things, if Jesus is not your foundation.  And you will be tested....read your Bible about Joseph, Noah, Abram, Sampson, Jonah, Job, and the twelve disciples.  And Jesus, who when tested had his feet on holy ground, his heavenly father.  We are designed so we cannot save ourselves, or do it alone.  Either it’s Jesus or nothing....

Like the radio in Phil’s Checker.  When I asked him why all the presets were set to the same station, he said “it doesn’t matter, the radio doesn’t work anyway....”  Jesus accomplished what we cannot.  What are your presets tuned to?  Built on obedience through trust, or on your own strength?  Jesus, the foundation that cannot be washed away, but in him our sins can be. 

Which reminds me of........

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

Terry-last seen in 1952

I met Terry some 40 years after he served our country.  A devout Christian, I found his take on the world, from his point of view, very interesting.  And how he perceived things, for you see, he was blinded in the Korean Conflict, and the last memories, his last views of the world were in 1952.  Mention cars to him, he thought Kaisers and Fraziers, Nashes and Hudsons, chopped hot rods, and Barris Kustoms.  He may have ridden in a Mustang at some time, but never saw one.  Never saw an over head valve Ford V8. Never saw an Edsel, or a Corvette.  Japanese brands like Honda, Nissan, Datsun, Toyota, and Mazda were well after his loss of sight.  He could only listen to the car ads on TV and imagine what they looked like, he might feel and smell fine Corinthian leather, but never saw it.  Every car, every house, every fashion, every motorcycle, and all fast food was like 1952 to him in his mind.  Blind before McDonalds, he could only imagine what Ronald looked like, how Elvis was the pelvis, what was moon walking, and had no idea what a hippie looked like.  He never saw a Beatle haircut, never saw a 3-D movie, and could only imagine what a modern kitchen of today was like.  His vision of the world died in 1952, and for 40 years, all his memories would be based on what it looked like then, comparing what he was told to then.  It didn’t matter how you described today, he only had the views of yesterday to envision it.  Except for Harley Davidson...

An old story tells of the blind men meeting an elephant, and trying to describe it.  The first feeling his nose, said “it must be like a snake.”  The second touching its side said “it must be big like a wall.”  And the third, touching its foot, stated “it must be big like tree stump.”  All three right in their responses, all three describing the same elephant.  But each without benefit of the whole elephant.  A lot of people, Christians included view Jesus like that.  The Bible tells us that we only see in part, but someday we will see in fullness.  That fullness is offered to us today, but for some reason we reject or neglect it.  Much easier to come under the control of a religion or denomination.  To only know what the pastor or teacher tells us.  Don’t ask questions, don’t question our views.  And in many ways are more blind than Terry of how they see the world and Jesus.  Terry has been dependent on help from others after his blindness, yet we fall short in our spiritual blindness, not seeing how the spirit instructs or guides.  In many ways we need more than just being taught, just being a part of passive participation, we need the fullness of Christ in our lives daily.  Yet many only see apart of him like the blind men with the elephant.  He is a great teacher, and they stop there.  He might have been a prophet, and end there.  He might have performed miracles, but they stopped too.  He died, and his tomb was empty, but what about his resurrection?  Religion will only give us a part of Jesus, it takes the spirit to reveal the mysteries of him, and to show who he is, the true and only son of God, God incarnate, and our only redeemer.  Unless you see that part of Jesus, you miss heaven, and all the other things are good, but won’t get you there.  Maybe being set free or saved is as simple as the quote of the man Jesus gave his sight to.  “I don’t if he is good or bad, all I know is I was blind and now I see.”  A simple portrayal of the gospel, an opening of our spiritual eyes to the truth.  Yet many Christians today lead a Christian life using a cane, blinded by not fully knowing Jesus or who he is.  And we are all guilty of it from time to time.

Job in his worst hour of testing could still say “I know my redeemer lives.”  He knew the character of God, and it went way beyond what he could see and feel.  It was a deeper sense, only revealed by the holy spirit, knowing that whatever he encountered on earth, God would make it better someday in heaven.  Can we say the same thing?  Do our actions portray a loving and living God in our adversity?  How we see Jesus will dictate how we live for him.  Job looked forward to seeing God, and knew he would.  He knew what he was expecting, but in the end, god provided so much more.  He offered him insight and the source of all meaning and power, via his spirit.  In the darkest hour, he knew his redeemer lived.  How many of us see life through his eyes, but have no hope?  Believing is seeing, not the other way around. 

So I know someday Terry and all who suffered but claimed Jesus as their savior will truly see him someday.  His world of 1952 will suddenly be a heavenly paradise, and like scripture promises, “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind imagined the kingdom of God,”  whatever he has imagined heaven to be, it will be much better.  A promise for us also, so how do you see Jesus?  Maybe a quick trip to the cross will help.  Is the cross empty or is he still on it?  Is he still suffering or is he resurrected?  Is he alive or dead?  Maybe it is like the angel said, “he is not here, just like he said.” 

So at car shows when I see any car 1952 or older, I think of how Terry remembers his world.  But also how he sees his future.  Spiritually he was once blind, like we are were, but now he sees.  If only we all had the spiritual eyesight that is offered, how we would see things truthfully.  But for now, we only look into a mirror darkly.....but let the spirit open your eyes to the reality of Jesus.  To be in the kingdom is to belong to God, on earth as it is in heaven.  If only we could see what God sees....and how he sees it.  How you see God will make all the difference.  The word blind is mentioned 82 times in King James Version, Jesus himself warns the church in Revelation 3 that we are blind, and don’t know it.  The question is, do you?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

"ladies and gentlemen, The Beetles...."

When the VW Beetle finally passed away, breathing its last breath of Mexican air, no one seemed to care except the millions who had related to it over the 70 years it clogged up traffic on earth.  Personally I never cared for the car, or the Type 2 vans/buses, or other variations of it.  Even the cool looking Karmann Ghia was suffered by no motor, so what if they last forever but it takes forever to get there?  So here are a few of my memories of the Beetle, seems even those not fond of it were touched by it, even if it was following one at 45 in the fast lane.

My Dad had a 1963 blue one, bought used.  He even let me put my Honest Charlie’s Speed Shop decal on one window.  But my main memory was one day getting gas with him at a Sunoco, paying 23.9/gallon.  Just across from him was a new C3 Vette filling up with 260 at 32.9/gallon.  His comment, “how can that guy afford to fill that thing up?”  Buy the Vette Dad, I’ll pay the dime from my paper route.

When Theresa moved east to New Mexico, I flew to LA, and we drove back in her 1976 Beetle.  Slow and noisy, remember I was used to motorcycles, it seemed it was made for the 55 mph speed limit, that’s all it would do, except over the passes.  But we made it, and shortly after traded it along with my 1967 Sedan DeVille for a new 1978 Rabbit, my third.  Our first new car together, but without the Beetle to trade, we could not have done it.  Seems I underestimated the value of it and what I got in return.  And the new Rabbit too.

But that was my third Rabbit, the second one a story in itself, but the first one when they first came out to replace the aging Beetle.  But it always ran bad, so bad it spent most of the six months I owned it at the shop, and I was given a new Beetle as a loaner.  I was thankful for the loaner, but if I had wanted a Beetle I would have bought one.  Sold that Rabbit with no air to a kid who had just been accepted to the University of Arizona.  I wonder if it or him ever made it?

But my middle Rabbit was bought when I moved to Albuquerque, a basic Rabbit, with nothing, even the door panels were cardboard.  But I needed a car, got taken quite a bit on it, but it turned out to be a blessing.  When Bob wanted to go back to Chicago and share his new life in Christ with his old dealer friends, I let him borrow it.  Which he totaled when they turned on him, chasing him the wrong way down a one way street.   When the insurance company looked for a used 1976 for comparison, all they could find was one loaded up, and I got a check for over $1000 more than I paid for the Basic Rabbit.  Lots of lessons learned other than never loan Bob your car, and no, I didn’t buy a Beetle.  So I guess without thinking about it, maybe the VW Beetle played a small part in my life, and sadly it was always the car that led to a better one on my next purchase.  But the best thing is I got Theresa as part of the deal, and 42 years later, no talk of trade for a newer model.  As she goes to work in her 2015 Mustang convertible....

Jesus tells us “come unto me you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Many times I find my own lack of sleep is from not getting my own way or not trusting God.  Seems there is always something to tempt me, to want to go faster, quicker, to be the coolest on the block.  A self created heavy laden, but Jesus is equipped to remove that burden.  I look back at my Beetle memories, and each one led to a better memory.  My Dad traded his VW for a 1969 BMW 1600, which I bought used from him, no VW no BMW, he used to drive Ramblers.  No Beetle from Theresa, no New Mexico marriage, and no new Rabbit, which served us when living at 8300’ in Colorado, it started every morning even at –42 degrees.  Traded for a 1982 Mazda 626 when we started our family.  And of course when Bob totaled my Basic one, only God knew what lied ahead, I had and still have no idea.  But I have learned, and still learning to lean on him, to take his yoke for it is easy, to let him give me rest.  I never want him to tell me “why do you call me Lord but don’t listen to me?”  And with all the cool cars and motorcycles out there, I too struggle with “being glad for what you have,” for my reward is in heaven, and can be enjoyed now, as Jesus reminded us “on earth as it is in heaven.”  Just no Beetles I hope.....but if there are...

But one theme constantly stays with me, no matter how you go in life, there is always something faster, prettier, more expensive, and more desirable.  Except Jesus, for in him I found all I need, and really all I desire.  I have trusted him with motorcycle and car purchases that seemed to not work out, but showed me patience when they did.  I passed on marrying two other women, came pretty close, until I met Theresa.  And today I can look forward to tomorrow because of how he impacted my past.  So as I watch old microbuses go for over $100,000 fulfilling someone’s dream, when I see old Beetles all over in So Cal, and when I see men my age trying to recapture their youth, I look ahead.  While some still look for God via religion, drugs, or wealth, only to find those things own them, I find peace and life in Christ.  So maybe consider taking Jesus along the next time you go car buying, or see a bike you cannot live without-again, for he is the best deal maker.  He goes beyond a FICO score, any discounts, and even the turkeys I have spent too much on, he was there to help me back on my feet, or on two wheels again.  So if a Beetle is part of your legacy, it’s OK.  But if Jesus isn’t, it’s not, but not too late.  That burden you have, no matter what, he can carry for  you and  ease the pain.  Many cars entered my life and left much differently.  When Jesus enters your life, he wants you to not stay the same way, but still loves you the way you are.  Can any of your old cars say the same....

And for those of you who struggle with faith, in those times when he seems to not be there, he is listening, not forcing himself on you.  The spirit comforting you through it.  So don’t confuse delay with acceptance of your prayer, he never hurries and was never late.  Just like your old Beetle.....it may take a while, so enjoy the ride while you can.  With a reminder to all you biker types, remember putting a VW motor in a Harley frame......does that mean a VW is faster than a Harley?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com