Back before an era of climate controlled interiors, those of us destined to
ride in the middle class of cars referred to interior cooling as 360 air. Roll
down all the windows and let the air rush in. Need a higher blower speed,
accelerate. And life was simple, if not warmer in these pre-fake news global
warming times. We usually had vinyl seats that our bare legs would stick to and
burn, and the importance of calling “window seat” had a true meaning and
purpose. Something most kids born after MTV have no inkling about. Today Mom
just pushes the button the remote to start the car and cool it off, then get in
and drive away, while talking on her cell about how rough her day is and the
unbearable heat. With each other passenger on his or her i-pod, and we call it
a family conversation....
My 2003 ford Ranger is basic, rubber floor and roll up windows. “Don’t all
windows roll up?” you say. Well not all, witness to many sedans with fixed rear
windows, not even a dog wants to ride there, no place to hang his head out. But
for the rest of us, yes they do all roll up. A problem a nephew of mine faced a
few years back. Graduated from college now, he was riding in the Ranger with my
wife and asked “Auntie, how do you roll the windows down?” A strange request on
two levels for a post MTV kid, one why roll them down, and two, he couldn’t find
the switch. So after carefully showing him the window crank, the puzzled look
told her “by hand?” And of course getting resistance, was smart enough too turn
it the other way. Almost exhausting himself after a few cranks, but he did get
the window down. And hasn’t asked to ride in the Ranger since! I can hear his
version of the bravery and persistence it took, bragging to his friends, “it was
tough, had to use all my strength, but I finally got it...” and the call them
the good old days?
Maybe we aren’t quite removed from the past as we think, as some 25 years
ago my son wanted to know what the dial was for on my Grandmother’s phone? And
dialing, found it a novelty. But in an emergency what would he have been able
to do, pick up the phone and just yell into it? Start dialing, never knowing it
only took seven numbers, at one time only three, and finally figure it out
before the house had turned to ashes? Same with that strange third pedal in old
cars, what does it do? Just think, driving a clutch, dialing a phone, or
rolling down a window manually, all by ourselves. Take that i-pad! Cue in
Twilight Zone theme...
Now being a low tech man in a high tech world may be scary to some, to me
it gives me an advantage. It makes me think, something we are slowly being
robbed of by computers that think for us. How many know phone numbers any more,
but know where to look for them? Or add and subtract, ever wince as you watch a
high school kid make change? “Let’s see, the bigger ones are 5 cents, the dark
ones are a penny, but why are the dimes smaller but worth more?” Didn’t
counting change used to make cents/sense? Now I am not anti-technology, give me
air on hot days, give me fuel injection and electric start, but let me
participate in the events, no matter how miniscule they seem. Sadly few will
ever know the thrill of downshifting and sliding sideways, of burning rubber, or
how good wind feels in your face on a cool night. Only a dog will know...if he
is old enough to remember. And so it is, and so it was, and so it shall
be.....with a few exceptions.
Jesus Christ will always be the same. Think on that a moment, he never
changes. Styles change, worship songs change, religion changes. But he remains
the same. But for argument’s sake, let’s see how it would be if he did? What
would happen if God woke up on the wrong side of his bed? What if he got fed up
and didn’t want to answer your prayers any more? Or forgive you? What if the
tiniest infraction of the law was broken and you faced the harsh punishments?
What if your prayers fell on a deaf ear or he put you on hold? Befriended you
on Facebook? Didn’t answer your emails, took you off Instagram? Yet we act
towards him as if he doesn’t care or answer when we don’t get our way. Sound
familiar....
One afternoon in my prayer time, God asked me “why do you think I want
people to be like me and not like you?” Without multiple choice being offered.
After a few seconds to collect my thoughts, you never want to answer God wrong,
he told me “so that people can be forgiven and be like me. And not like you.”
A harsh reality some of us in ministry face, as we build churches and wish to
control or shepherd the flock. But Jesus never changes, so we know what to
expect, and don’t have to wonder what kind of mood he is in. To doubt our
salvation, or wonder as some performance based religions and cults do, are we
ever going to make heaven? Did we do enough? How do you see Jesus when you
pray? Do you ask expecting, or just hoping he will answer? Remember just like
us, saying nothing is saying no.
Is it possible you are stuck in a religion with roll up windows, and cannot
find the crank? Are you expecting to hear from Jesus, but don’t know how to
dial the prayer line? Are you stuck sitting because you are perpetually in
neutral, and the only sound you get when trying get in gear is grinding? Could
the answer be as close as a thought without having to Google it? Jesus gave us
his spirit so we are never alone, wherever two or three are gathered in his
name, he is there. You and the spirit make two, and in the eyes of the law, it
only takes two to confirm the witness and enter it as fact. Could that blank
face staring back at you on the screen be you, who cannot change or answer
prayers? Maybe it is time for Jesus....
To feel the wind of the spirit in your face, to get into the right gear,
and remember his number, he has written it on our hearts already. To go back to
the highest tech creator ever, God, who out of nothing created the heavens and
the earth. Without our help or assistance. That God, who sent his son to die
so we can be reunited with him. Who would have ever thought that salvation is
simpler than opening a window?
Next week, how is it possible to have over 200 channels and there is
nothing on to watch.....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com