“Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider — God has made the one as well as the other.” (Eccl 7:13-14 13 NASU)
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.
Joseph J. Mazzella