Auto miracle?

I’ll write a more general update very soon. Right now, though, I want to tell you about what happened about my finding a car. Was it a miracle? Was it spiritually designed? You decide.

Here’s a brief account of the history for anyone who doesn’t know it (or doesn’t remember):

Because of the lengthy illness I had that kept me from working for over half of 14 months between November, 2004, and January, 2006, I ended up in a severe financial crisis. During that time my former car broke down beyond the value of repairing it, and I sold it for almost nothing. For quite a while several people were generous enough to allow me to use cars they owned. (Thank you again to all 4 of you. You made a huge difference.) Then, recently, I learned that I had to give up the latest car I had been using.

That threatened to put me in an enormous bind because I need a car for work (not to mention to go to the grocery store and things like that). I now have 5 jobs (substitute teaching or another temp job as my full-time day work and 4 part-time side jobs: acting in films, secret shopping, housesitting, and selling prepaid legal plans and identity theft protection). I’m about to start doing some other work, too. The important issue, though, is that all of my work requires me to have a car, either to get to the jobs (examples: out to the boondocks for a 4:00 a.m. call for a movie, over an hour drive to Las Vegas, NM, for a couple of secret shopping jobs, and immediately from my day job to a housesit to let a dog out of the house) or else to actually do them (some of the secret shopping requires me to do drive-through purchases). In fact, I have a housesitting job that starts tomorrow (April 1st) that I would have had to give up if I didn’t have a car by then. In addition to my losing about $250, it would have incredibly inconvenienced the homeowners and probably would have lost me all future work with them and with people they know. As I said, it would have been an enormous bind.

I have enough money coming in to make payments on a car. However, I don’t have enough to make a significant down payment. My finances are improving significantly – as long as I have a car and can continue working.

So, I had to find another car. I tried everything I could think of to do in the material world that I was willing to do (I wasn’t, for example, willing to try robbing a bank):

1. I asked everyone I could think of who might know of an available inexpensive car and who might also be willing to do so to help me find one. As you may have read before, humbling myself enough to ask for help is a challenge for me. I’m just accepting it as a spiritual practice and lesson for me, though. There must be some good reason for it.

2. I found 3 cars that were being given away. For one reason or another I didn’t get any of them. I chose to believe that they just weren’t my cars to have.

3. A couple of friends recommended someone to buy a car from. He reconditions cars, sells them in good condition, and finances them himself. Unfortunately, I learned that he requires a $1000 down payment, which was far more than I could possibly make right now.

4. I went to a dealer that advertises that they finance anyone. However, because I have no credit (it isn’t bad credit; it’s an absence of credit) and don’t have a job I’ve been working at full-time for over a year, they wanted either a $1500 down payment or else a co-signer on a loan.

5. I tried lots of other dealers that also require far more down payment than I can give them right now. One place wanted half down and $200 every 2 weeks. Does that sound funny to anyone else but me? If I could make those payments, wouldn’t I be going through a traditional lender?

I also considered asking people I know for a loan or to co-sign a loan for me. Those felt like too much to ask for, so I ruled out those options. It might have been different if I knew for certain that I had a lot of money coming in soon. But I don’t know that for certain, though I’m imagining that it will occur.

Consequently, I felt stuck without acceptable options in the material world. So, I turned to the only other things I knew to do – prayer, visualization, gratitude, and surrender. I prayed for the right outcome, visualized waves of abundance (including a car), got some of my prayer/visualization partners to join me in that, and expressed gratitude for it all. Then I surrendered to whatever came, having faith that it was somehow perfect. As one of my teachers used to say repeatedly, “Thank you for everything; I have no complaints whatsoever.”

On Tuesday, March 28th, I gave up the car I had been using and took a few deep breaths.

That same day I received a call from a friend telling me that she had decided to release a car she owned and wondering if I was still looking for one to buy. We met the next day, and she insisted that I drive the car for a week or so to make sure I wanted it because it’s old (which also means inexpensive). So, I was only without a car for a day. I walked to one meeting and rode the bus to school one morning. Other than that there were no problems (and I’m not sure those were really problems).

I now have a 1985 Toyota Tercel wagon with low mileage (just over 148K miles) that’s in fairly good condition for its age for a week or 2 until I need to decide if I’ll really buy it. At that point I either need to have manifested the money to buy it or else to have manifested another car. I’m open to the right outcome, whatever it may be.

I acknowledge that this feels like a minor miracle to me. Of course, if it’s a miracle, I could have ended up with a blue 2006 Subaru Forester, which is my dream car, free and clear with licensing and insurance paid. Is that asking too much? I believe it’s the part of me that thinks it is that keeps it from coming to me.

For now, I’m grateful to have any car that will get me around. But, I’m working on upgrading my consciousness. I’m willing to have that Forester – not to mention all other forms of abundance. I see it coming in frequent, repeated 11-foot waves of all abundance. How’s that for a visualization?

In the meantime I’m grateful for a 1985 Toyota Tercel wagon and for my friend who has been so kind to me about it. I accept it as perfect for me for however long that may be. And, I acknowledge that I wonder if maybe there’s still more to the story to be revealed.

Namaste,
Michael