I know you are wondering why an atheist would title a post, "Jesus is my co-pilot."
Bear with me. You will see.
My husband and I needed a new car, but since my husband can fix anything on a car, we normally buy used. So we looked in the paper, Auto Trader, eBay, & Craigs list. We found two in good to excellent condition, within 15 miles of us, in the price range for which we could pay cash, but they were both 8-9 years old and had more than 90,000 miles on each. Anything newer or with fewer miles was more expensive and most older cars had body problems. Plus, we haven't had much luck with the last few used cars we had --transmission problems, a/c not working. Each one has cost us major bucks within 2 or 3 years and would have cost much more if my husband hadn't done the repairs himself.
I happened to see an ad in the Sunday (1/3/10) paper to lease a new car for three years, no down payment, 0% interest, a maintenance pkg. that covers everything including annual state inspections, the dealership paying for our plate and registration and the first month's fee. The total cost (including taxes) was about $1240 more over 3 years than we would pay for a 8-9 year old car. But, when we figured what we would save on gas mileage, not having to rent a car while my husband works on our older one, the interest we would earn on the cash we would have paid in full for a used car instead of withdrawing the monthly payments, and the cost of general maintenance (oil, filters, etc.) we would actually pay $500 less over 3 years for the lease rather than a used car. Plus we would have a reliable, worry-free car covered by a manufacturer's warranty.
We've never leased before, but we had to decide immediately if we wanted to do that because the deal ended Monday. We checked Consumer Reports which rated that 2010 model very highly.
So first thing Monday, I called the dealership from the ad and talked to Bob. The deal sounded good, but it was a long drive in frigid, snowy weather to that place. So I called a dealer 7 miles from home and talked to a salesman from Puerto Rico. His deal was nearly identical. He pronounced his name Hay-zeus. I was not quite awake yet, so it took me a second to realize that he would spell his name Jesús.
My husband nearly choked on his coffee when I told him I had just spoken to Jesus.
We chose the color of car we wanted, a dark green with a bluish tinge and took a test drive. Jesús took his time to explain everything. He was not a wheeler-dealer trying to get us to take something more expensive, and actually gave us some hints on saving a few bucks. We signed the papers. While a credit check was done and the car prepped, we looked through the manuals. Jesús gave us his card and told us if we have any problems that we should call him directly and he would intercede for us.
Then he said, "Well, it's sort of like.... Are you Catholic?"
We answered, "No."
"Are you Christian?"
"No."
"Are you religious at all?"
We shook our heads.
"Do you know anything about religion?"
I answered, "We've both been indoctrinated. It just didn't take,"
"Well, you know how people pray to Mary or Jesus to intercede for them with god?" We nodded. "Well, that is what I will do for you, intercede with the right department, if you have any problems with the car."
I just couldnt' help myself. I said, "Well, in a way, Jesus will be interceding for us ---won't you?"
Jesús laughed. He had a great smile.
When the car was prepped, including a full tank of gas, we were ready to roll. Meanwhile, it was nearly 9 pm, closing time, and it had started to snow again.
While my husband scraped snow and ice off our old rust bucket of a car, I got in the driver's seat and Jesús got into the passenger seat of the new car and he explained to me what every single thing on the dashboard did and even programmed the radio to our favorite stations. I kept thinking of the bumper stickers I have seen that say, "Jesus is my co-pilot."
We had received a good deal on a new car. It was the first time since I was 12 that I can say I really liked Jesus. He seemed like a great guy.
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Update 1/14/10: Today we received a hand-written postcard in the mail from Jesús. He signed his name with beautiful penmanship. I asked my husband if he thought we could offer Jesus's signature on eBay? I figure it is just as valuable as a piece of toast featuring the image of the Virgin Mary.
Update 5/5/12: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." ---attributed to Albert Einstein
Although I cannot see the names of individuals who have viewed this blog, I can see where viewers are from and I can see if they have found my blog by entering keywords or a question in a search engine. On several occasions, and again today, I have seen that someone has arrived at this post by asking, "Where in the Bible does it say, 'Jesus is my copilot?'" (today, from a reader in Federal Way, Washington)
Say what????? The only "pilot" in the Bible was Pontius Pilate ---and he was no "pilot" but perhaps more akin to the physical fitness system "pilate" ---but only because of the spelling. I wasn't sure when "pilot" first came into use, but it boggled my mind that anyone would think the word "copilot" was in the Bible. I researched the word "pilot" and learned that the term was not even in use before the 16th century. It came from a French word derived from a Latin term, with it's original derivation coming from the Greek word for rudder. In the 16th century the word referred to a ship's pilot.
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And by the way, we have been enjoying our car. The lease will be up in 8 months, so we are pondering what we will lease next.
copyright 2010, C. Woods
