VOLKSWAGEN RISES

DISCLAIMER: After over 25 years as an Assemblies of God minister, I’ve learned that some people become very offended over anything and everything. Please don’t think in this posting that I’m making fun of Jesus Christ rising from the Dead or that I take lightly what the Lord Jesus Christ did for me! Easter is the most special day of the year, and I would be NOTHING without Our Lord, Jesus Christ!
I just couldn’t resist telling this story of an inanimate object “rising from the dead” on Easter weekend!


“And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
And they remembered his words,” (Luke 24:4-8)

People who have been reading my blog for a long time know I can get very sentimental about certain things, especially cars. My late brother Eddie had a turquoise 1971 Ford Thunderbird, for instance. To this day, it’s impossible for me to see an early ‘70s T-Bird at a car show and not get “choked up”. Until very recently I was driving what had been my parents’ 1989 Volkswagen Golf. I remember the first time I saw that new car. It was October of 1989. My friend Ed Duddy and his wife Vikki were up visiting from St. Louis. We went over to my parents’ home in Canton on a Saturday. There in the driveway sat the brand new blue VW. My parents were very excited about the new car and had kept its arrival a secret. They wanted to surprise family and friends. My Dad had previously owned an orange (yes, ORANGE!) 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle. Dad loved Volkswagens. They were cheap and great on gas. He typically bought a 2 or 3 year old VW and would drive it until it was 8-10 years old; then he’d replace the car. He’d bought the ‘74 when it was around 2-3 years old, and he’d driven the car for at least 12 years, so he was overdue to replace it.

What amazed me is that the new blue ‘89 was an automatic transmission model. Dad loved manual shift cars. It turns out he bought the automatic for my mother’s sake. The car was brand new, but he got a really good deal on it because the 1990s were on the dealer’s lot and they were anxious to sell off the new ‘89s they had. THAT was like my Dad, to look for a “deal”, but I was also surprised he’d financed the car. Gene Baril was a guy who believed in paying cash for everything. I don’t think he EVER had a credit card. My Mom had a couple of credit cards and a checking account. Dad was Mr. “Cash Only”. For him to finance a car was unheard of. Dad also thought it was stupid to have air conditioning in a car, and this new VW was equipped with A/C. I have to say, I was struck so funny about the A/C, automatic transmission, and financing that I chuckled about it for the rest of that weekend!

My parents died within 7 weeks of each other in the summer of 2000. One item I inherited was that 1989 Volkswagen Golf. When I got it in the Fall of 2000 it had only 26,000 miles on it! Except for a few small dents my Mom had put in it (her vision was failing and a few times she scraped it against the garage door frame) it was pretty much in “mint” condition. I wasn’t used to such a SMALL car...and it was a 2 door (I prefer 4 door cars). It was a lot of FUN, however! It was like riding around in a go kart! It got great gas mileage. It had a surprisingly good AM/FM radio (alas, no tape player!) which in a VW is called a “Heidleberg Stereo”! When my kids got their licenses, they had fun driving the VW. It was always a fun car for me. When Amy’s friend “Wes” needed an adult to “sponsor” him for his road test, I did that, and Wes got his license in downtown Framingham on a snowy day in the Volkswagen.

No, the VW wasn’t perfect. It did NOT like alternator belts. I lost track of HOW MANY alternator belts I replaced in that car. About every 12-18 months the alternator belt would fall off and the car would have to be towed and repaired. That got to be a real pain, and expensive. It also went through exhaust systems like crazy! I spent a lot of time at Meineke Muffler! In the past 2-3 years, it was looking “ratty”. The headliner had been falling down and I put a bunch of industrial grade staples in it to hold it up. The rear hatch would not stay up on its own when opened and I had pieces of wood to “prop” it open. The blower fan would only work on the highest speed. About 2 years ago, the A/C died and it was going to be so expensive to fix that I did without it.

As the calendars turned to January 1, 2010, I had a strong feeling that I would not own the 1989 VW beyond 2010. Many of you know that the VW lost brakes in downtown Framingham on February 8. I am thankful I was not killed! I had the car towed to my driveway where it sat until April 2. We officially took the VW off the road, canceling the registration and insurance just a few days ago. Last night, a young mechanic named Ryan who loves to fix up and restore old Volkswagens bought the car. He picked it up with a large flatbed truck. My daughter Rachel and I watched the Volkswagen Golf carried away on the truck...almost like a person being taken away by ambulance. Ryan will put new brakes on the car, fix the exhaust system and do some other work. Upon starting it up he also commented that it has a vacuum leak. I wouldn’t have noticed that but he could tell by the sound.

The VW I watched carried up the street last night seemed a far cry from the brand new car in my parents’ driveway in October of 1989. There was a bit of sadness seeing it go. My wife Mary Ann had an apt observation, however - that my father would have been very pleased that a young mechanic was going to fix it up and drive it. That’s true. Dad would have been pleased as punch that this very young guy was going to take care of “his” car and drive it, sparing it from a trip to the junkyard.

So, on Easter weekend, the Volkswagen has risen!

Yeah, it’s a car. Ryan the mechanic will fix it and maybe even drive it for a few years. Eventually, it WILL end up in a junkyard. But for those of us who put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ...one day, we will rise in new bodies and life forevermore! (see I Corinthians 15)