Perfecting His Plan: The Church Is Like a Car Wash
He’s at Church and the car wash every day for the same reason
Daily Mass and car washes are incredibly similar. It only took me 30 years to see that connection out.
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” — C. S. Lewis
Going to Church and the car wash daily (or nearly every day) seemed “excessive” and strange to me. The first time anyone suggested either, I had the same identical reaction:
- Flashback to 1990: Uncle Howard visiting from out of state, asked if we had a “real” car wash near the small town where we lived. He told me he “needed to find a car wash because I wash my car every day.” Not just once in a while? What did that cost in money and time? I thought he sounded insane.
- Flashback to 2007: Daniel, our intern at the University of Michigan, told me, “I go to Mass every day.” Every day? Not just once a week? Who did that? I thought he sounded insane.
- But then I became “a regular,” going to Mass and the car wash daily or as often as possible. Finally, I started attending daily Mass regularly in 2014. Within a few months, I copied my son and joined the Jax Kar Wash Unlimited Club, allowing daily washes for one set fee.
The moment he connected the dots: The Church and the Car Wash
But it wasn’t until very recently that I “connected the dots,” realizing how and why the two habits mesh so well together:
- Leaving the car wash, your vehicle looks and feels alive and new. You drive your dirty car into the car wash, transforming it. My nine-year-old 2015 Chevy Camaro looks brand new. Our friend Gary said, “Joe’s got it made. A flashy new sports car and a beautiful wife.” I chuckled certain he didn’t know my car was older than his.
- Leaving Church, it’s the same feeling. We go to daily Mass for much the same reason. Through the Eucharist at every Mass, I consume the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Then, through Confession, I can wash away my sins, a sacrament Matthew Kelly has likened to the car wash. Burdens are lifted, and you’re renewed with each sacrament.
Should you wash your car every day? Just when it’s imperfect?
Back to my “old” cars that look brand new. In 40 years of driving, I’ve only owned six vehicles, keeping all but one for a decade or more. The car washes, maintenance (and garage access) make a huge difference.
Also, I got my “expensive looking” Camaro for $18,000 — about $13,000 below the sticker price — because it sat unwanted on the lot for two years. So the $40 a month I pay for the unlimited car wash club seems like a cheap investment to make myself (and others) think I’m driving a beautiful expensive new car.
I still chuckle, thinking of the Millennial co-worker who called my Camaro a far more expensive Chevy Corvette. Regular car washes make an old car “look great all the time,” and they can increase its resale value and help its overall performance (I haven’t needed a repair for eight years).
As one car dealer writes: “it’s natural to want to take great care of your vehicle, and the easiest way to do that is through frequent car washes and cleanings… While washing your car improperly can damage it, washing it as often as you’d like won’t hurt your vehicle.”
So I don’t go every single day, but Jax bought a car wash very close to my home, so if the red car could benefit, I make a stop (especially during the early morning hours when they aren’t busy).
Daily Mass and frequent Confession are very similar to regular car washes: Just 1 percent of Catholics go to daily Mass
Matthew Kelley got me to go to daily Mass with a challenge: He said to go to Mass seven days in a row for just one week, promising it would “change your life.” It did.
It changed me the way inspiring talks or programs can’t. Here’s why: You must do something every day (or consistently) for it to truly change your life.
Very similarly, the Bible in Year with Father Mike Schmitz (a daily podcast I’m now listening to fir a third year in a row) changes you in a way monthly or weekly habits don’t.
Rediscovering Catholicism (a Kelley book) argues that we “lose our sensitivity to sin” if we don’t regularly pray, receive the Eucharist, and go to Confession, making the car wash analogy.
He asks readers to compare their souls to their cars. He notes that when a vehicle is brand new, we are “proud” of the new car and make extra efforts to keep it clean (at first, anyway). But then we get busy; other priorities rise to the top of our list.
Suddenly, we allow junk to pile up in our cars. The puddle we race around when the vehicle is brand-new doesn’t seem to make any difference when your car is already a mess — so we drive right through that puddle, getting our vehicles dirtier.
But if we keep going to the car wash, going to daily Mass and praying and receiving Confession, we stay as clean as possible. That makes a difference. Here are some more details on how going to daily Mass changes the 1 percent of Catholics who go more than once a week:
Do you need to do any of these things every day? Do you need to take a shower or shave every morning? Not exactly — but the one day you skip that daily habit, you’re likely to notice something feels a little different throughout the rest of your day.
Go a second day and a third, and that sense will grow exponentially. It’s the same with going too long between being part of a Mass and going too long without a car wash.
“Cleanliness is, indeed, next to godliness.” — John Wesley, 1791.
