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Swing Low.., |
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And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11) |
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THE SINGLE fluorescent bulb in the barn’s ceiling fixture blinked glaringly. The irregular light rhythm annoyed Eli’s eyes. And the long wait was surely becoming bothersome. Eli had been there since noon, and the hour was getting uncomfortably late. He was tired. And still the wheezing old man checked with the vacuum gauge one more time. Eli sat impatiently, leaning forward on an old, worn leather bucket seat that rested against the barn wall. The dirty shop was filled with old tractor and car parts left over from antiquity. The old man had said that he shouldn’t sit there. His seat was a restoration reject because of the sinful rip in its hide. Also, since the bucket was built before the days of plastic foam and modern building materials, a spring gone awry added to the young man’s discomfort. He squirmed a bit showing that he was anxious to be up and gone. But he refused to sit helplessly in the car. The day began early that morning for Eli as he’d packed. He’d looked forward to traveling to the concert to be held near the banks of a reservoir in south central Pennsylvania. Eli had secured his attaché travel case in the front passenger side floor of the sedan. A solo time worn piece in his entourage, the case had stickers of all Christian rock bands that he’d admired during his teen years. The clothes bag he carried contained his band’s stage costume. Too long to hang nicely from the over-the-door hook, he’d slung it over the passenger seat. An amplifier, control pedal and solid-body electric guitar he’d locked safely in the trunk the night before. Just a short drive out of Cleveland and Eli had been traveling rapidly along the interstate. But now, he sat |
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on the barn bucket seat, thinking that maybe God was punishing him. Eli had pushed a little too hard on the speed limit, using the gas pedal to make the engine sing much like his guitar notes would soon waver. “Surely, the Lord will understand.” he’d thought at the time. Speed was needed in order to get him to his play date on time. Indeed, Eli had driven fast as he entered the hills of western Pennsylvania. Then he had moved even more rapidly as the sun rose higher, but the engine temperature gauge began its ascent as well. After seeing the gauge rise, Eli slowed his pace to see what would happen to the reading, and the temperature needle dropped lower on the scale. But every time the ram-tuned, four valve-per-cylinder, four banger was pressed to go up a hill, the needle arced very high upward again. Soon his anger at the slower pace began to show. Though |
