Nov 30, 2020
Lolo’s Morris Oxford
by Oliver Carlos
When I was a little boy, we were not really a rich family. We weren’t very poor either. But we owned the most unique car in Los Banos. We had a 1952 Morris Oxford when nobody else in town had one. This was in the 1970s to early 80s. In the last days of the Oxford, the coolest vehicles were the Toyota Starlet, Toyota Corolla DX, Ford Laser, Ford Cortina, Mitsubishi Colt Mirage, and the box-type Mitsubishi Lancer.
That car was passed down by my grandfather Tomas to my Dad Jess in the early-70s. I just don’t know if my grandfather was the first owner. What I remember is that our Oxford was color gray, it had no aircon, and the front row was one continuous piece, unlike modern cars wherein the driver’s seat is separate from the front passenger seat. It also had no fuel gauge because my Dad would always dip a long bamboo stick in the fuel tank door at the car’s side, to see the fuel level each morning. My older cousin Baldo told me the car only had 3 gears. I can’t really remember that detail as I was so young when I rode in that Oxford, but I do recall that it was quite a slow car.
One funny recollection about the Morris Oxford days was we siblings always quarrel on who gets to sit on the front row. During that time, we were only 3 siblings — I’m the oldest, Joan was next, and Lenlen was the third. If I were 6 years old then, Joan would be 4, and Lenlen would be 2 1/2. Our youngest sibling Jay-R wasn’t born yet then.
The front seat was our coveted seat because it gave us a sense of superiority. It provided us the feeling that we were in control of the car and the voyage. You can just imagine the noise we created at the start of every family trip!
My father would always stop the sibling arguments with his familiar words:
“One day I will buy a car that only has front seats good to seat all of you, and there would be a steering wheel for every one of you.”
Then the three of us would burst in jubilation and would excitedly await that day.
This is what we call “childlike faith”. It’s the honest-to-goodness trust of a child to his father’s promises. The child isn’t seeing anything tangible, yet he believes that what his father says is true and will come true. Jesus commended this kind of faith. In Luke 18:15–17 (NLV) we see Jesus pointing out to his disciples that such childlike faith is what every person should have in his or her heart in order to be saved. Let’s read verses 16 and 17:
“ Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
The childlike faith is what Jesus is looking for in you. Believe with all your heart what your Heavenly Father says. God says he loves you, believe it. He says that he will save you, believe it.
He says he will give you eternal life in Christ if you repent from your sinful life, believe it.
He says he came down to earth and died on the cross to pay for your sins, believe it. He says he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will one day come back to get you. Believe it.
That is the childlike faith.
