Regular Maintenance

Tis the season for dirty vehicles. Winter brings with it snow, ice, slush, and the materials used to combat the same. Liquid brine and salt solids are broadcast over the highways in order to keep roads passable and traffic moving. The aftermath of road treatment is a nuisance to our vehicles, especially the windshields! Having a reputable pair of wiper blades on the auto is essential to keep the windshield clear from sight robbing dirt and grime. Along with wiper blades, the other ingredient necessary for a clean windshield is windshield washer solution.

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There is no sound more frustrating in a vehicle than when you push the lever to expel solution onto the windshield and there a hum but no fluid. The wiper blades scrape across the salt and grime and little or nothing happens. It is at this point you remember getting gasoline for your vehicle not four days ago. You distinctly remember seeing the large display of cool blue windshield washer solution on sale next to the gas pumps. You remember thinking, "I should get some of that." but then thought how cold you were standing there putting fuel in your car and decided to forego the purchase. Now, you are traveling on open highway and visibility is poor, your anxiety is rising, you need help, and the nearest store that would sell what you need is miles away.

In the midst of crisis is the worst time to be without essential things. Nothing to clean dirty windshields seems cataclysmic until one considers an empty spiritual tank when faced with life changing catastrophes. How do we cope when a job is suddenly yanked from our grasp or a loved one falls terminally ill? How does life make any sense when a loved one dies? Where is the peace for us when it seems the world is intent on imploding?

There is only one place I know to find solace, peace, strength, and hope. The compilation of 66 books of scripture are rich in diverse forms of literature and poetry to be sure, but they are much more than that. God chooses to reveal divine nature within the pages of scriptures and so the Holy Bible is not just another book, but one that helps us find solace, peace, strength, and hope when bad things occur.

Yesterday, I began reading through the Bible in a yearlong plan and the first reading was Psalm 1 and this short chapter maps out some basic tenets of our faith.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1)

Some will argue that scripture is just words on a page and isn't essential to having faith. I would ask those folks how or better yet where their faith is derived. If faith gleaned from a popular movie or fiction book is what they are using to find solace, peace, strength, and hope, then a large frustration is on the horizon and approaching quickly.

The only way I place I know to go in order to learn about God and God's nature is in the very book God offered us. The inspiration of God placed on about 40 different authors over hundreds or maybe thousands of years, gives us a treasure trove of insight into the heart of God.

I offer you several pieces of advice:

1. Go check your reservoir on the windshield washer solution. Is it topped off?

2. Check the shelf in your garage. Is there a bottle of solution there?

3. Go find your Bible. Is there some dust on the cover?

4. Commit to join me and countless others as we begin to read through the Bible in the next year.

5. Let's all learn a little bit more about our God, creator, and lover of our soul.