By Jo Mooy
A man named Ricky met an evangelist in the 60s who touched his soul and turned his life around, and then he, in turn, touched my soul.
This is a kind of love story of three unrelated life threads that somehow merged in a most remarkable way. On an unmarked side street off a four-lane highway, tucked away in a decrepit area that looks like it was bombed out, sits an auto body repair shop. A huge white rooster loudly assaults customers who dare to cross the uneven, broken-down driveway, enroute to the corner of the garage that passes for an office. But when my mechanic tells me that shop will get the love bug damaged paint on my car fixed at a reasonable cost, I go.
As I tried to dodge the rooster, a man who looked to be in his mid-sixties limped out of the “office” and shooed it away. He could barely walk, but the obvious pain that was hobbling his gait was camouflaged by a bright wide smile and a charming hello. “I’m Ricky,” he said. I explained how the love bugs had embedded themselves into the car hood and my feeble attempt at cleaning them off had resulted in more damage to the paint. He assessed the damage, called his cousin from the back of the small garage to take the car and said I should wait as it wouldn’t take long to buff it out.
He invited me into the office to sit with him a while, as he too needed to rest his body. The interior was cluttered and full of car photos and trophies, some with Ricky and famous people. Vintage Matchbox cars, prized by collectors, had a special display shelf. Piles of old car magazines were cleared from the chairs and added to even higher piles on the floor. He shoved two old coffee makers that were waiting to be fixed out of the way.
Then something miraculous happened. For the next 90 minutes, all the physical clutter in the office disappeared as Ricky wove his life story for me. He came from a poor family in South America where he was destined to have a limited future. Yet he had a great desire to come to America because of all the opportunities he saw on TV, though he didn’t know how that would ever happen.
Then, one day in the 60s, he was watching an American evangelist named Robert Schuller on the single “neighborhood TV.” He was captivated by everything Schuller said about making your dreams come true and living a life filled with possibilities. After the show, he went to the library to find all of Schuller’s books that had been translated into Spanish. With tears in his eyes he told me, “Those books became my guide, my friends, and they changed my life.”
He read all the books in Spanish but knew, if he was going to come to America, he had to learn English and to speak it well. He spent two years doing that, though his friends made fun of him and told him it would never happen. Schuller also taught him that a person needed a good skill to make a living and that he must give back to his community. Ricky was already good at repairing cars, but he worked diligently and spent another few years becoming an expert. Then he applied for a visa at a time when they were only given to the wealthy. Despite being turned down many times, he finally got one that was given out because of his car repair skills. “Mr. Schuller’s books got me that visa,” he told me.
Throughout our conversation, he quoted a verse from one of the books and explained how the power of thoughts or being one with prayers to God or believing all things were possible allowed him to overcome many adversities. He shared that he had a deep trust and believed totally in the power of the possibilities of his dream. He knew that if he stayed focused on his dream, putting in the effort and doing the work he needed to do, the dream would come true. It did.
Today, because of an evangelist, Ricky owns his own business in America. He reminded me that he did not do this alone. Mr. Schuller helped him and taught him to give back, which he does by teaching members of his community how to repair cars. They need a skill, too, he told me. In the process of running his business, Ricky saved enough money to send his only daughter to the University of South Florida where she recently graduated with honors. He proudly showed me a photo of his daughter and said as a little girl she always cared about nature and taking good care of the earth. He taught her about Schuller and to dream, too. Today she’s a climate activist with a state job working in environmental protection.
This isn’t the end of Ricky’s story. He continues to learn by taking online classes. He reads and writes poetry. He quotes Shakespeare with ease. He sings Leonard Cohen songs on his guitar, and he keeps believing in life and new dreams. When I asked him about his pain he said it was rheumatoid arthritis but assured me he was ok. “My pain is nothing and not more than I can manage. God has given me a wonderful life. He sent me Robert Schuller, who taught me how to make dreams come true. I learned a skill. I came to America. I opened my own business. I married a wonderful woman and have a beloved daughter. I can read and learn and sing. What pain?” he asked me with a huge grin.
All the threads of his connections and mine were suddenly displayed with clarity in my mind’s eye. The love bugs I encountered on a road trip were just little irritants to take me to a shabby side street where I met an astonishing spiritual maestro.
A man named Ricky met an evangelist in the 60s who touched his soul and turned his life around. Ricky, in turn, touched my soul with his grace, kindness and his extraordinary love of life which is now entwined in my life story.
Jo Mooy has studied with many spiritual traditions over the past 40 years. The wide diversity of this training allows her to develop spiritual seminars and retreats that explore inspirational concepts, give purpose and guidance to students, and present esoteric teachings in an understandable manner. Along with Patricia Cockerill, she has guided the Women’s Meditation Circle since January 2006 where it has been honored for five years in a row as the “Favorite Meditation” group in Sarasota, FL, by Natural Awakenings Magazine. Teaching and using Sound as a retreat healing practice, Jo was certified as a Sound Healer through Jonathan Goldman’s Sound Healing Association. She writes and publishes a monthly internationally distributed e-newsletter called Spiritual Connections and is a staff writer for Spirit of Maat magazine in Sedona. For more information go to http://www.starsoundings.com or email jomooy@gmail.com.