A Memorable Easter Car Ride - Dave's Deep Thoughts

 

Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.

 

I don't mind living life in the fast lane,

but with a 90 year old?

 

I have a dear aunt.

For the point of this story, I will call her Millie.

 

I love my Aunt Millie.

Throughout her life she has always

had a lively personality

and a great sense of humor.

 

Aunt Millie has been in a personal care facility

for the past two years.

She is 90 years old.

Her children live out of the area

so I make it a priority

to visit her at least once a month.

 

The ninety years are reflected in her physical body

as she uses a walker and wheel chair.

Her legs don't always respond

the way she wishes them to.

 

Her hearing is quite diminished

but her mind is still very sharp.

She is able to remember events,

names, and dates better than I.

Though the 90 years have robbed her of some physical attributes,

she is still the spunky aunt that I have known.

 

This year,

I wanted Aunt Millie to attend

the Easter celebration at my home.

As a pastor, this would mean

making the 20 minute drive

to pick her up at the care facility after worship services.

 

Now I must admit,

I am not well practiced

at getting nonagenarians into from wheelchairs into vehicles.

 

Every move needs to be calculated.

Every turn and step is deliberate.

It took ten minutes to move my aunt the two feet

from her wheelchair to the seat of my car.

(Note to self: always make sure the wheelchair brakes are ON)

 

A twenty minute drive

and my aunt would soon be enjoying

the Easter festivities with family and friends.

 

The road between the care facility and my home is quite hilly.

There is one particularly stretch of road

that features a large valley.

 

As we began the descent into the valley,

I noticed that the car was moving a bit faster

than I wanted it to move.

 

As I applied the brakes,

the car didn't seem to respond.

 

I looked down at the stick shift.

There was my aunt's purse strap

wrapped tightly around the stick shift.

 

Her purse had somehow been embedded under her thigh

during the magnificent ten-minute wheelchair to car transfer.

 

And somehow as she had re-positioned her body during the trip,

the tight purse strap had pulled the stick shift

from drive to neutral.

 

My Aunt Millie and I were free-wheeling

and only one of us was loving it.....

 

I'm not sure what my hard-of-hearing aunt heard

as I shouted

"Move your leg!"

 

Perhaps, to her it translated

"Lose your egg"

or possibly

"Do your peg"

 

Whatever those 90 year old ears heard,

it wasn't "move your leg"

and it wasn't solving the problem.

 

If this had been an amusement park,

we were now on the front seat of the roller coaster

and we were careening towards the abyss.

 

There are times when a man has to do

what a man has to do.

Muttering a quick prayer of forgiveness,

I reached deep down under my aunt's thigh

to pull on the purse.

 

By the look on her face,

my aunt had seen that move

somewhere in the earlier days of her life.

There are some questions a nephew just doesn't ask his aunt.......

 

I was able to loosen the purse strap enough

to put the stick shift back into drive.

 

By now, this roller coaster was on full tilt,

and guess who was sitting at the bottom of the hill......

the ride attendant,

otherwise known as the cop.

 

I knew where this ride was headed as I pulled over to the side of the road.

 

I can honestly say

that I can count on one set of fingers

the times in my life that I have used the

"I'm a pastor" card.

 

This was one of those times.

 

I'm not sure if it was the part about being a pastor,

or my ninety year old aunt,

or the purse strap wrapped around the stick shift,

or the fact that it was Easter that got to him,

but he left me off with a warning.

 

My aunt wasn't so easy.

As we starting moving again,

my spunky nonagenarian aunt

looked over at me.

With a lilt in her voice and a twinkle in her eye she said,

"Busted!"

 

Sometimes when we are trying to do good,

things can go wrong.

 

It is that fear that often keeps Christians

from reaching out.

 

Helping a stranger in distress.

Intervening in a bad situation.

Taking an ethical stand in an unethical setting.

 

Our health, our lives, our reputations

all can be at risk when we

choose to step out and do good.

 

Easter celebrates

that God willingly chose to intervene on our behalf,

knowing beforehand

that the act would cost Him His life.

 

The message from the One who surrendered His life

to those who wish to be called His disciples is

"Go and do likewise"

 

Not an easy task for Christians in a "me first" society of the 21st century.

But it's never been easy no matter what the century,

especially when you are not sure of the outcome.

 

What you can be sure of when you do step out on behalf of God,

is that you have pleased the heart of God.

 

And sometimes,

some ninety year old aunts.

 

But I say to you who hear,

love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also;

and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

And as you want people to treat you, treat them likewise.

Luke 6:27-31

.