Driving the Caddy or No Ghosts in this Car
After my auto accident a week ago God did a totally unexpected and wonderful thing - he provided another set of wheels. It's temporary, a rental car, but most appreciated. My mom came to visit and getting around was imperative. Truth is, I'm probably enjoying the car a little too much. You see, while my Ins. company approved the car, it was a sweet girl at Enterprise Rentals who actually picked out the car, and I've been driving a Cadillac SRX. It's a sweet ride, and has more bells and whistles than I could learn in a month. The other evening I accidentally hit the OnStar button (trying to turn a light on - duh!) and found myself talking to a real person who graciously excused my ignorance.
This morning on the was to Ozark I found myself reminiscing about how much my Dad loved Cadillacs. I guess he drove them a good thirty years or more. My second summer home from college he handed me the keys to his blue one and I used it for work. When I graduated from college the pimp around the corner in our trailer court drove around and around the court eyeballing Dad's new yellow Caddy. It was the exact year, make, model and color as his own - only it had Alabama plates. It was too weird.
Maybe it was the mellow music, maybe it was because I've not grieved deeply over my Dad's passing, but for a moment, just a moment, it was almost like he was close to me. I had this insane sense that he and Jesus were in cahoots in choosing this particular car for me. My Biblical Baptist theology rejects the idea of Dad having any influence in the process, after all, Jesus is our only intercessor, but it's not beyond belief that maybe, just maybe, Jesus put his arm around my Dad and said, "Carl, you see that girl of yours down there? She's going through a real tough time right now and I want to do a little something to show her that I love her but I also want her to think of you."
The last thing Dad told me the last time I saw him was that he was proud of me. Looking back it means a lot. So I drive - and deep in my heart I know Dad would be pleased.
