Visiting a parent, for me, always mixes lessons from the past with new observations in the moment. I am reminded how certain complex challenges are, in the hands of a master, quite simple. If I was to try to describe the way the problem was solved, we would both be lost. If I describe the problem and the outcome, it almost sounds so simple that anyone could do it.
In this case, the problem was the outcome of a truck driver apparently not caring about where a very special car was on the car-carrier. There are two, possible three levels. The higher on the carrier a car is, the more exposed it is to the elements which it was designed to deal with. The lower the car is, the more exposed it is to the dripping fluids of other cars which, if deposited like a bird dropping, will etch and eventually destroy the surface of the car below. The car is question landed in my dad’s garage, with a saucer sized etching and exposed metal.
A childhood friend owns the car. In coming back to check it, I asked him about the story. I heard about the driver, the attitude, and the outcome. The etching was still vivid in his mind! The layers of paint forever altered. The way the car’s metal had been exposed and damaged were expressed in spitting emotional syllables. The pain and angst is still present.
With an air of innocence, I asked him to show me where the damage was on the car. His two steps carried an air of frustration and lament.
As his hand reached out to the part of the car just below the windshield, his voice went silent, and there was a visible shudder through his body.
“How…who…WOW.”
The paint was perfect. The look was an original pristine orange 240Z. The damage erased, restoration complete.
In between thankful hugs, his emotional questions spilled out questioning “how” this happened. I listened, remembering the psalmist’s words. Divinity “smashed huge kingdoms right and left, His love never quits.” (Psalm 136.17)
