Check Engine Soon

Juggling multiple balls and faced with several challenges, another situation surfaced early Wednesday morning as I headed east to water the farm.  I hadn’t driven a mile when the “service engine soon light” glowed brightly on the dashboard.  I took a deep breath, said a prayer, and continued east.  With zero rain in the last 60 days or so, daily watering is mandatory.

Concerned with the warning light, I did my chores quickly so I could get my vehicle to the shop, but when I saw my friend Chico weeding peppers on his land, I walked over to say hello.

“How are you, my friend?” I asked.

“I’m okay,” he answered with a weak smile.  “How are you?”

“I’m fine, but I must leave.  I have a situation with my vehicle.”

I could tell by the nod of his head that he had his own challenges.  He smiled again, this time a bit stronger.  “There are times when I think,” he said raising his eyes to the morning sky, “God asks me, ‘How strong are you?’”

How strong are you?

That was five days ago, and I’ve pondered that question every day since.

How strong are you?

This morning, I recalled “The Honest Fighter” from 19th-century Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard’s spiritual writings…

“A road well begun is the battle half won. The important thing is to make a beginning and get under way. There is nothing more harmful for your soul than to hold back and not get moving.

“The path of an honest fighter is a difficult one. And when the fighter grows cool in the evening of his life this is no excuse to retire into games and amusement. Whoever remains faithful to his decision will realize that his whole life is a struggle… He knows full well that at decisive moments you have to renew your resolve again and again and that this alone makes good the decision and the decision good.”

I would restate Kierkegaard’s advice in the vernacular this way…

Suck it up!

Thinking again about that warning light, maybe it was meant for me, not just my vehicle!

Check Engine Soon

Renew Your Resolve

Mitakuye Oyasin