Going from Point A to B

This morning I was thinking about going from point A to B.  The big issue this week was dealing with ever recurring car problems and trying to figure out a way to get to work.  A neighbor offered to loan me her car as she noticed the tow truck pulling away from my driveway but I ended up working things out by using my daughter's car.   It's was a hassle, but I managed to get from point A (home) to point B (work) without too much drama. As I stood at the mechanics counter to settle up, I took note of the quote on top of the invoice reminding everyone of the correlation between proper maintenance and break downs.  Yeah, thanks for the extra jab-if paying $250 wasn't pain enough.  It's times like these that I consider the benefits of leasing a brand new car and not dealing with all this car hassle. It would probably be cheaper.  I hear wonderful tales from the land of  lollipops, rainbows, and unicorns where one can live a  maintenance free/repair free lifestyle-where car problems are fixed for free-where I can shift responsibility and say- "Hey this your car-so it's your problem".  How important is "ownership" anyway?  From people I have surveyed the big drawback is having a mileage restriction.  Perhaps taking responsibility for my own car problems offers more freedom in the long run. I don't know. I want the freedom and the power to go where I want to go-when I want to go. With gas so cheap right now-it's time to be going...somewhere.  If I wish for the power to go, I guess I should also wish for the power to solve problems-and perhaps do more than wishing.

I love the car problem solving duo of "Click and Clack" on public radio.  (I was sad to hear of the passing of Tom Magliozzi.) I loved listening to the banter between the brothers. I could always feel their humanity as they tried to diagnose car problems and offer possible solutions. They made problem solving fun and entertaining.  Maybe I need to have more of their humorous, wisecracking outlook when approaching my car problems. People who know things about cars are amazing.  People who know things about anything are amazing.  Knowledge IS power to solve problems-and power-well that's just everything. Without it, we can't go anywhere.  Now having power just to rev your engine or go fast down a strip a road-that's just show-off power.  Fun, I admit, but pretty useless in the grand scheme of things.  But power to solve problems-that's a different story.

This week my co-worker interviewed to get into a Master's Program.  It's got us all thinking about where we want to go in our careers.  It put a little gas in my tank to spend some time online trying to earn additional CEU's for a possible specialty certificate in Behavioral Health.  After listening to a presentation, one is required to take a brief multiple choice test in order to earn credit.  Net effectively, I pour a bunch of information into my brain then need to solve problems with this "new" information. I found it curious that one of the most complex presentations (the one where my brain literally hurt trying to keep up) had the shortest, stupidest questions.  I guess it was just too much information to really encapsulate in a meaningful quiz.  I don't know-whatever.  However, the next day at work, some of the concepts came to mind when going about my normal paperwork.  The information allowed me to see my world in a different way and make new connections.  Perhaps new information will help me solve problems quicker and more effectively.  It reminds me of the quote from John Wayne who said "Life is hard-but it's harder for stupid people."  I want smarts to solve problems.

People came to Jesus with problems. He used knowledge from on high to address their issues and concerns.  He had knowledge for healing.  He was the great fixer.  After tending to the needs with great power, He instructed others to "go thy way."  His knowledge and power helped others to GO.  It set them back on the road of life, with working engines.  I want to go.  Sometimes I don't know exactly where, but I at least want the ability or the power to GO.  I don't want to be restricted or stranded.  I'm grateful that he shares his knowledge with us-that he encourages us to gain knowledge through study and prayer.  He wants me to have knowledge of all things-temporal and spiritual.  I can then turn that knowledge into power to solve problems-my problems.  And maybe, just maybe, help others solve their problems as we all try to get from point A to point B.