Echoes of the Garage

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Friday, November 6, 2026

Today has been a good day.

I am here. Still here… alive.

I drove around L.A. in my white GMC van. Cool weather. Sometimes I go on autopilot, and sometimes my mind wanders.

Today, I thought about forgiving. About how to stop worrying.

So I began repeating in my mind…

I forgive and I won’t worry about it.

A little at a time, I became calmer.

Then I imagined Jesus sitting next to me. Walking with me. Just being there.

And then… more peace came.

My eyes began to water, too. Not sobbing. I was just so moved that I couldn’t stop the tears.

Reverence for someone I’ve never met.

That is incredible to me. To feel so much for someone you’ve never met but wish you had.

And if I did meet him, I feel like I wouldn’t talk.

While walking through a swap meet, I imagined his stare. His eyes.

I almost stopped walking.

My pace slowed.

I felt… not alone.

As if I had never been alone. I had just thought I was at times.

It was like walking with the president… but the president of all. Everything the eye can see.

That can humble a man.

You’re walking with the man.

I didn’t grow up religious. I don’t call myself religious now. I cannot quote the Bible.

But imagine a being who loves all of us.

I mean… all.

Even the worst of us. We can be the meanest, the nastiest, and yet I imagine him seeing past that.

The more I thought about it, the harder it struck me.

Then I looked at myself.

I am not nice.

Because I have limits to who I’m willing to be nice to.

I’ve judged. I’ve been judged. I’ve sinned. I’ve hated.

I am full of faults, like anyone else.

When I’ve been depressed, I haven’t always thought about my own worst actions. I’ve thought about how bad I felt. How much I was hurting.

And when I feel good again, I can forget how much that pain hurt.

But I thought… Jesus is aware of it all.

That brought me back to forgiveness.

Forgive. Don’t worry about it.

As I looked people in the eyes—from the folks passing by to my customers—I kept thinking about forgiveness.

A lot of us don’t forgive.

But we wish we were forgiven.

Me included.

Maybe once in a while, even when I’m sad, I can also say…

Thank you.

I am alive.

Thank you that I can imagine Jesus beside me, and that imagining him makes me slowly calm down. Recalibrate.

I don’t usually do this. This was only the second time, and both times it had the same effect.

A man I’ve never met. I thought about his actions. Imagined him walking and sitting with me.

And I felt small… like he was the galaxy next to me.

But I never felt alone.

I’ve been trying to stop judging. To treat others as I want to be treated.

More than anything, I’ve gotten tired of seeing—or expecting—the worst in others.

What would Jesus do?

I think he did pretty good.

He’s still teaching centuries later. Still helping so many.

He’s even got a book that’s the greatest bestseller.

Thank you…

Just thank you.

The galaxy that doesn’t make me feel alone.

Like a boy beside his father.

Enjoy your cup of coffee. ☕