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Spare Tire

Recently I was out on a walk.  I used to go for a run, but now it is half and half!  I like walking because I see more since I am paying more attention.  Even if you basically go the same route, you may see different things.  Or you may actually see something you have missed on so many trips before seeing something.  I am always amazed when this happens.  You notice something and almost feel embarrassed that you never noticed.

Not noticing can happen with very normal, obvious things.  Sometimes they are so normal, it never occurred to you to pay attention.  And sometimes, they are so normal, you may have noticed them, but never spent any time thinking about it.  This just happened to me.

For some reason on today’s walk I noticed a car sitting in a driveway.  I pass by that driveway and house many times a month, so I am sure the car has often been there.  I think it may have been a Jeep.  At any rate, it had the extra tire on the back---the kind that is inside a case-type thing that is part of the back door that swings away from the car.  Many popular models have those rear spare tires like that. 

Other cars have the more traditional format.  The spare tire is in the trunk.  That is true of my car.  Nearly all these kinds of models have the tire hidden in the trunk---underneath some kind of mat.  So even when you get into the trunk, you never actually see it.  I know where my spare tire is and I can even take it out and put it on if one of the four regular tires goes flat.

I know these days most folks never change a tire.  Many of us simply call AAA and they show up and do it for us.  That’s very nice; it makes life easier.  I remember too many times changing tires.  When you grow up on a farm with tractors, wagons, etc., getting a flat tire was not unusual.  You just did it.  So I have a skill I never use!

So the spare tire on the car sitting in the driveway prompted my thinking.  It suddenly occurred to me that the spare tire was becoming metaphor for a fresh way of thinking about my spiritual journey.  We all know the literal spare tire is there in case there is trouble and you might need it for a temporary time until you get the car back on its regular “legs.”  I wondered if there were not some version of the spare tire in our spiritual life?

What is my spare tire spiritually speaking when there is trouble?  Trouble comes in many forms in the spiritual life.  One of the most predictable troubles for me is the “dry periods,” as Quakers talk about them.  A dry period is that time when nothing you are doing spiritually speaking seems to have any life.  You have no “water” to nurture and nourish your soul.  You may go through the motions, but nothing happens.

Clearly, there are all kinds of spiritual trouble.  Sometimes a life crisis comes along and knocks the meaning right out of you.  There were times in my life when I truly wondered whether any of this spiritual stuff was “real?” Was it so much gobbledygook that offered nothing when you actually need it?  Obviously, no one can prove that it is real.  It is a faith issue.  And if my faith goes flat, do I have a spare tire?

So what constitutes a spiritual spare tire?  As I thought about it, they turned out to be very common.  But then, that is not surprising.  A real spare tire usually looks much like the flat tire it is replacing.  The only difference is the spare tire is actually functional.  It is going to help until you can fix or replace the real tire.  Analogously, I suspect the same is true for the spiritual spare tire.

I realized I have two or three dependable spare tires.  Perhaps the most useful spare tire is that friend or mentor to whom you can turn when you are spiritually flat.  It might be someone you regularly see.  Or it might be someone you seldom see, but know when needed, you can always turn to him or her and effective help will immediately be given---no questions asked.  I feel like I have one friend like this.

A couple other predictable things might be spiritual spare tires for someone.  It could be a favorite part of the Bible.  This does not really work for me, even though John’s gospel comes close to fitting this category.  The other thing is a special book---one that always speaks to you and brings you back to your spiritual center.  For me this would be a Quaker classic from the 20th century, namely, Thomas Kelly’s A Testament of Devotion.  I know many folks do not like this book and I am not quite sure why it is so important for me, but it is. 

I know the function of the spiritual spare tire is to carry me through when I am spiritually down and out.  I actually like the image of being spiritual flat.  And I like the reality of having a spare tire to carry me through the hard places of being spiritually flat.  As I walked along, I was glad to realize that I actually do have a spiritual spare tire.  That is rea

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