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COLD, DARK clouds skidded across the sky over the garage as I pulled up. On this late Sunday afternoon in February, I’d deliberately picked this time to visit. Well… almost. By leaving home I’d avoided a TV hand controller fight with my wife. She had insisted on watching her professional basketball game… so I did the wisest thing. I came out to visit Mike. Mike’s garage is a warm and welcome place. Located in the back yard of his house, the garage used to be a barn that housed a small dairy herd. Mike inherited the farm, and the tasks of his dairy farming father. The trouble was… though he loved the farm, Mike didn’t like cows. So he sold the cows, raised hay and started a business selling car parts and tools. And, as the years went by, he collected and sold car parts for old cars… hence the passion struck him. It came on fully when he retired and bought the old Packard. A “light in the darkness” so to speak, the Packard now resides in the barn. The car is warmed by a wood stove, attended to by an ample tool bench, and comforted by neighboring bar stools. A visitor can settle in the barn, alongside the Packard, for a sweet afternoon. After entering the shop, I saw that a couple of safety stands held the old car’s rear axle up high enough so that Mike could crawl under the right running board. I peered back into the garage from the doorway and could see two work boots pointed heavenward. “Mike, is that you under there?” I said. |
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I waited for an answer coming from beneath the old car. I waited… and none came. I took a couple more steps up alongside the graceful fender, noting the detailed paint accent on the edge of the slope down to the spare tire well. From there I peered down at the well-worn workman’s boots. “Mike, are you okay?” I listened quietly; then I heard the sound. The low rumble echoed out like a Harley V-twin backing down the long hill into the valley, then a few |
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A Light Shines in the Darkness |
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The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name sake. (Psalm 23:1-3) |
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snorts occurred like the bike had the muffler baffles blown out. I got down on my knees and peeked beneath the car’s running board. The shop light was on, glowing a yellowish tinge that only heavy duty bulbs can emit. The creeper headrest was up. And Mike was laying there… sound asleep. He looked restful there, snoring with his reading glasses perched between his nose and his white mustache. He had a hand-written wiring diagram on his chest. In his right hand was a electrical test light, with its probe end hung around a black wire that routed toward the rear of the old car. It was like he’d naturally fell asleep amid a voltage test. His arm rested gently on a bracket and his |
