Americans and cars - I think that's something distinct about our culture - we love our cars. I'm there on this one too - I've loved cars ever since I was a little kid - especially after getting my drivers license the day I turned 16. I was driving and it didn't matter that it was an old beat up VW bug.Cars have always been friends to me. This week, we had to say goodbye to my 99 Montero Sport - the vehicle I drove while both SPACE and Ember were launched. Lots of great memories about that car including:
- buying it right before Em was born
- driving to Dteam every week [and a student putting a dent in it with a Frisbee]
- live Christmas trees every few years on the roof
- Mission Advance 06 - when it leaked water inside and having to drive it out of the floods
- only two speeding tickets [I think...]
- bridge+ice+guardrail
- using it as my portable office for so much SPACE and Ember stuff - lunches, planning meetings, leader recruiting meetups, missional experiences.
It was a good friend to me.
Remember that feeling of driving for the first time? Going where you [mostly] wanted, not having someone else drop you off, being able to dictate time and distance and speed all to and for yourself. Americans and cars. Something about that screams freedom.
Happy Independence Day.
I'm not an American so maybe I don't qualify to comment on this one but I did love cars ... once upon a time. These days I find them a useful tool in certain situations.
ReplyDeleteI got my license on my 17th birthday, the legal age for driving in Australia. (That means that later this month I will have been driving for 30 years. I must be getting old.) I've had several cars (all Fords) and loved being able to transport myself wherever I wanted to go, even a road trip with friends right across our huge country.
These days I'd much rather be on my bicycle. That's real freedom for me. Freedom from paying ever increasing fuel prices, freedom from endless maintenance costs, freedom from big insurance bills, freedom from traffic jams at peak hour, freedom from rising car registration costs, freedom from a sedentary life and so much more. I love the fact that the power for my vehicle comes from my legs, not from a pollution belching engine.
I've even cycled right across this huge country of Australia five times.
I still drive when I need to do so (we're a one car family so I drive my wife's car) but if we're motoring along the road and I see a cyclist I just yearn to get out of that metal box and go ride.
that's some great perspective rodney - love that image of freedom outside of those little metal boxes.... really great seeing that from your eyes. happy american independence day!!
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