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Almost 20 years ago when I was still a
college student, I had an old car that I jokingly named
Goliath because of its huge size. This car was older than I
was at the time and drank more gas than a dozen pick-up
trucks. It had rotted wiring that my dad had to replace more
than once. The windshield wipers were broke. The battery
died often. The radio didn’t work and I only had one,
scratchy cassette for the tape player. It often took quite a
while to start and would backfire loud enough to be heard in
the next county. My friends and teachers would often joke
that they noticed buzzards circling my car when I was in
class. Still, this was the car I depended on to commute long
distances everyday and more often than not it got me there.
In a lot of ways, too, this car was a
lot like life. The more you complained about it, the worse
it got. If I would complain about the gas mileage one of the
bald tires would blow out. If I would grouch about the
sputtering engine it would start raining and I would be
straining to see through the water all the way home. If I
griped about not having a radio the next time the engine
would not start at all. But, when I laughed about and
accepted all of Goliath’s problems it would run for weeks
without giving me any trouble at all. I would pat its
steering wheel with love and sing along to my old cassette
tape as I drove home in joy. God taught me a lot about life
with that car.
My giant, old, beat-up car showed me
that you have to appreciate what God gives you in this life.
You have to rejoice in the good and grow stronger and more
loving from the bad. You have to see that worrying and
complaining only add to your misery and realize that you can
select laughter, love, and joy instead. You have to reach a
point where you take whatever life gives you and use it to
make this world a better, happier, and more loving place.
You have to see that even if you start out driving a piece
of junk in this life, God is still going to make it a
glorious ride.
(c) 2007 Joseph Mazzella |
