After driving a'63 Ford Galaxie 500 [4 door, sky blue, 350 v-8] a Vega seemed like a step up for me. As I look back on it, well, that Vega did need alot of dressing up. I had it painted...........gloss black. I bought mag wheels and raised white letter tires from the Firestone store on Johnson Drive. I had air shocks installed so that the back end was raised up. I put in a radio with a cassette player. Woooo. This was a hot car. Sort of. Underneath, it was still a 4 cylinder motor with an alluninum block.
Sometimes you can dress something up, but it still doesn't change the essence of what it is. I see advertisements for all of these make over shows. Someone who dresses frumpy gets a new haircut and new clothes. But, aren't they the same person inside?
On a hot August night in 1976, just outside of West Wendover, Nevada, as I was entering the 100 mile drive across the Utah Salt flats, I blew the motor in that Vega. You see, I had it all dressed up on the outside, but underneath, it was still a ticking timebomb. A mechanics dream. I was towed 100 miles to Salt Lake City to the mechanics shop. I sat in a little motel for a week, waiting for the car to be fixed. Why? There were 6 other Vegas in line ahead of me.
Jesus told a story about the cup that was clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside. A made over exterior with a broken interior. If the sermon on the mount was today, maybe he would have spoken about that Chevy Vega. I hope that I wouldn't feel that he was talking about me.
What is on your inside? How is it with your soul? When the soul is beautiful, no one cares how you look on the outside. Bodies change and decay. Hair falls out. The soul is forever. What are you spending your time on?
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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3 comments:
You are blessed with a way of taking a simple life story, sharing it, and turning it into a thought-provoking, enriching reading to help us take a minute and reflect on all that is important. Thank you.
My first car was a 1975 White Gremlin; not many people can say they drove a Vega or a Gremlin. We are special!
Myfirst car was a 1964 Galaxie 500. I paid $100 for it - three on the tree inline 6. It had a lot of front end damage & the headlight on the drivers side was held in place by 2 pieces of 2x4. It lasted about a month before it dropped a valve seat into the cylinder. Fortunately I was on 235 in Des Moines and not in the Nevada desert.
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