250,000 . . . a quarter of a million

by fritzg · 5 Comments ·

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That’s not the value of my house, nor the value of my 401k, but rather how many miles I have on my car.

A friend of mine, Jack Jezreel has written a transformative social justice curriculum known as JustFaith. People who have gone through this program often give testimonials about the changes they have made in their lives as a result of the awakening that occured during JustFaith. For many it means getting a more rewarding (less paying) job. Others have downsized their home.

I have gone through JustFaith twice. The first time was Jack facilitated at the Merton Center Foundation in 2000-2001. The second was in 2004-2005 when I co-facilatated a group at the Center for Faith & Action. When I tell people about the changes in my life, I say something like: “Our family sold our house and moved closer to the inner-city. We rejoined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We changed churches, we’re now at a smaller one, in fact this church doesn’t even own the building where it worships. I’ve traveled to an active war zone. And I have the same car.”

When my mechanic changed the timing belt for the second time she told me, “Well, it should last you another 240,000 miles, the engine’s in great shape. These things run forever.”

Here’s to my 1994 Honda Civic EX. May she last another quarter-of-a-million miles.

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Tags: economics

5 responses so far ↓

  • meredith // Oct 1, 2006 at 6:45 pm

    that is a wonderful story. 🙂 when we bought our scion (10,000miles) we did so with the vision that one day we might be able to say ‘look at our car…it’s got 250,000 miles on it). Congratulations. May we follow in your footsteps.

  • Mary G // Oct 1, 2006 at 7:36 pm

    I can personally certify that this article is true and accurate. I have driven this car. Nice article, honey.

  • Rhonda Blevins // Oct 2, 2006 at 9:44 am

    I’ll give you $350 right now for that car! $351 if you’ll let me keep the bumper stickers.

  • melanie // Oct 3, 2006 at 11:57 am

    Hooray and congratulations! I heart my Honda Civic too! Only 40K but 4 years old–we celebrate our anniversary on Halloween. 🙂

  • EarthQuaker // Jul 24, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    I eventually got rid of my Isuzu P’up truck which ran on used french fry oil. It had 280K on it, but then again, it’s a diesel motor. Now that I’m car free, I wonder how many miles I’ll get out of my old bicycle?

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