Little Buggers
It was officially a date. The invitation came out of nowhere and went something like this. “Honey, guess what? My pick up is ready to be picked up. Can we drive on over together, you drop me off, and I’ll drive it home?”
I was thrilled. In the middle of the afternoon, there we were heading to the big town up the road—almost. You see, the car fix-it shop was about ten miles shy of the fun place where one can go snooping for all sorts of stuff you never knew you needed. And, at the beginning of the invite to date night, he did toss that in as a curve ball as I believe he prefaced it with an offer to extend the drive to that bigger town.
We pulled up to retrieve the big pick up and just as he got out the door of the little pick up, he noted the engine light burning brightly. What a dandy place to have that little light shine.
“I think I’ll have them take a look at this one, too, as long as we are here. I sat. In the passenger’s seat no doubt doing my daily word puzzle upon my phone, when the manager opened the driver’s door and began monkeying with cables, plug ins, and what-not. Soon, both he and my husband were looking under the hood and with a long tweezer like object, the mechanic began surgically removing tidbits of this, and that from under the hood.
As the evidence kept piling up, I piled out. “So,” I sauntered my way into their conversation. “Is that what it looks like? Little buggers have been bugging the engine components?”
“Yup,” said the mechanic. “We see it all the time. Little creatures can chew their way in and out of things all the time.” In other words, there had been a mouse under that hood and it had wreaked havoc. The little bugger allowed us to continue date night by driving back home together in the vehicle we’d come to retrieve.
And soon, down the road a bit, I will receive another invitation out of nowhere echoing the same. This time, I plan on dropping him off at the shop to retrieve what is now being made new. From there, I will head on up the road to the bigger town so that I can pick up some things I’m planning on needing by then.
This all makes me wonder about things I chew on—things like too many a sweet—expectations I have of others—facts that aren’t even factual. I clog up heart pipes that are needed for life giving thoughts, prayers, and conversations.
Matt. 5: 3-12. encourages us to be attitudinally lined up with His ways over our own. These BEATTITUDES have blessings attached. “Blessed are the poor in Spirit—Blessed are those who mourn—Blessed are the meek—Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—Blessed are the merciful—Blessed are the pure in heart—Blessed are the peacemakers—Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake…” And on these I shall chew until our next date night which will consist of retrieving yet another vehicle from the fix-it-shop. Amen.
Kathleen Kjolhaug
This article was first published in Theology in the Trenches, a column written by Kathleen Kjolhaug. Posted with permission. Read more articles on her blog, Theology in the Trenches.
