Love…It’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru. Really? According to their commercials I see people who buy a Subaru get to do all kinds of exciting things like kayaking. They are never stuck in traffic. Even though traffic has been less stressful during the Pandemic, I have full confidence it will come back. That’s not something I love, no matter what car I’m driving.
We’ve come a long way since Henry Ford’s Model T but basically, a car is a mode of transportation. The fact that I can get in it and go where I want to go is what makes it a car whether I’m going kayaking or having to pass the Galleria. People may love driving their Subarus, but if it had no engine all the love in the world wouldn’t make it go. In reality, there is only one car. The size and shape of the shells and the engines will vary, but in principle they are the same. Their purpose is to take us from one place to another. Here’s a link to a song I wrote about that. https://youtu.be/wDwDbLLSTp4
Amazing Race – Jim Gill
There is one car, there’s just one car
Many colors, shapes and sizes but there’s really just one car,
There is one car, there’s just one car
Many colors, shapes and sizes but there’s really just one car.
1. Henry made the Model T, it only came in black
Henry paid his employees enough so they could buy one.
Now they’re hawking SUV’s and even with $10K off
only a select few can “af=Ford” one.
There is one car, there’s just one car
Many colors, shapes and sizes but there’s really just one car,
There is one car, there’s just one car
Many colors, shapes and sizes but there’s really just car,
2. In the beginning humanity only came in black
But since then we’ve all had a change of face.
Now no matter what hue you may be it’s time we face the fact
that we’re all just one race.
There is one race, there’s just one race.
Many colors, shapes and sizes but there is only one race,
There is one race, one human race
Many colors, shapes and sizes but there’s just one human race.
It doesn’t matter who’s ahead or who is behind.
One day we’ll all catch our checkered flag and cross our finished line.
Amazing Race is what we’re in whatever color skin
We’re all a part of one family in this race we’re all kin
Our human bodies are also modes of transportation. Their purpose is to take us from one place to another. When it comes to being transported in cars we try to protect them with seat belts and air bags and crumple zones. When it comes to diseases, we should do all we can to protect one another until we go from this life to another.
I shared a meme that my new friend Pr. Chris Lake from Tree of Life Lutheran posted that featured a picture of Jean Luc Picard (from Star Trek the “best” generation IMO) that said “What if we stopped thinking about wearing masks as being controlled by the government and instead wore them to protect cashiers and other high risk workers as an act of kindness.” I have friends that “loved” that statement. I also had a friend that took issue with that statement. He wrote “It’s not about the masks. It is the idea that the government is enforcing them when they should just encourage them to be worn.”
I have lived an extra 36 years because the government did more than encourage seat belts to be worn. They required them to be worn and because I followed their requirement I survived being broadsided by an 18 wheeler at 60 miles an hour on Highway 59 in 1983. My son who was 4 months old in the front seat facing forward in his car seat survived also. Curiously enough at that time child car seats were not required. But the case of his survival was instrumental in influencing the Texas legislature to pass a law to require them.
This Sunday we will be looking at part 2 of Jesus commencement address to his about to graduate class of ‘33. The gist of what he says there is a challenge—“If you love me you will keep my commandments.” Love has to do with our actions. Love has to do with keeping Jesus’ command is to love one another as we have been loved by him. One of the ways we can show that love for one another in this time is to keep our distance, to wash our hands, and to wear a mask…as an act of kindness.
I understand that many people are in dire straits over the lock downs. The human race is reeling. The loss of life and livelihood is devastating. I fear that not obeying Jesus commandment to love one another by following the guidelines will only bring more deaths and more devastation and even increase the need for prolonged lockdown. Love is so much more than what makes a Subaru. Love is what makes a person a follower of Jesus. And being a follower of Jesus implies following his commandments to love one another even more than our mode of transportation … even if it is a Subaru.
Joyful Life Lutheran Church 