A Wonderful Car
The 2006 Honda Civic Si had 197 horsepower from its K20 four-cylinder engine, which revved to 8000 rpm. Most people know that. But did you also know that its windshield angle, at 21.9 degrees, is steeper than the Acura NSX’s? (For comparison, the Scion tC’s was 49.0 degrees). Or that its handbrake lever was rated Handbrake Lever of the Year by Automobile Magazine?
There are plenty of things you can’t fully know about the 2006 Honda Civic Si. And that is wonderful, by definition.
When you look at cars (or Creation) as means to an end, something to be used as tools for achievement or conquest or pleasure, you miss out on a sense of wonder. Wonder is the thought process that appreciates something in an almost reverent humility, or what Ignatius of Loyola called “affectionate awe.” You accept your place in God’s Creation. Some things are unknowable, and in some instances, that’s okay. That’s right where God wants you to be. But he wants you to know him, the God who knows all things.
Within this sense of wonder, Psalm 104 was written. A masterpiece of ancient poetry, it has guided unknown quantities of people through a meditation on God’s Creation, which is paradoxically visible and infinite. It begins and ends by praising God, who “wraps himself in light as with a garment” (v. 2), who “set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved” (v. 5), and who “makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth” (v. 14). At times, it explodes in praise: “How many are your works, O Lord!” (v. 24) while retaining that reverent humility that is offered as an act of worship: “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord” (v. 34).
Let Psalm 104 reorient your view toward the world around you. Trees, grass, water, and sure, the 2006 Honda Civic Si. Yes, even human-made things can point to the wisdom of God’s creation, if you look at it with that intention.
You can use trees for building wonderful things, like the cedars of Lebanon used in Solomon’s temple. But you can also enjoy trees that just exist because God made them to be trees. You can visit vast bodies of water that can be kayaked and explored, or you can appreciate them as vessels for the intricate water-dwelling animals he created and loves and sustains.
Sometimes a person enjoys part of God’s creation by experiencing it. But you can’t dip you toe into every body of water, and you can’t know every fact about every car in this big world. So for everything else, practice wonder. God gives you grace to accept and appreciate Creation for what it is, even if its only purpose to you is a reminder to place yourself in reverent humility toward the Creator.
The 2006 Civic Si was the first stateside Civic to come standard with a limited-slip differential. This crucial bit of engineering permitted drivers to put down power a little bit earlier and a little bit more gracefully while exiting a turn. This was a good thing. It worked harmoniously with the rest of the Si’s suspension. People described it as “wonderful.”
