Hi gang!
Been feeling a bit inspired about my recent return to cycling…
I’m a big picture guy… I try to keep my day-to-day experiences in perspective by not making too much of the occasional setbacks and disappointments that are inevitable in this world. I remind myself often that God still loves me as I am no matter how many times I stumble or mess up. I try to live with an attitude of gratitude - grateful for my family, friends, God’s love and every day above ground… I see so many people obsessed with material possessions and the temporal pleasures of this world and I just want to jump in their face and tell them to get their priorities straight!
But despite my focus on not getting wrapped up or consumed by anything too superficial here I am sitting in my living room looking at my beautiful new bike…and dreaming of my next ride… Even though a viral cold has kept me off the bike for almost a week I’m giddy thinking about what my next adventure might be… Will I do that challenging 50-mile ride through the mountains? Wow! That would be cool! Or maybe I’ll just take a long ride along the coast… Yeah! That would be great! Or how about really testing myself by tackling some steep climbs that I haven’t been able to do for many years?! Decisions! Decisions!
Kind of hard to believe I’m really 50 yrs old… Here I am like a kid at Disneyland having the welcome problem of deciding which exciting ride I want to go on! No more kiddy rides for me - After years of struggling through chronic illness and obesity I’m ready to hang with the big kids! Over the years, I’ve had quite a few of my Christian friends tell me that I shouldn’t be so obsessed with riding my bike, that I should put God first. On the surface, their logic seemed sound but instinctly I knew the truth…
When I’m climbing through a mountain pass struggling to keep my legs going, I never feel more alive…or closer to God. Although I enjoy the excellent and meaningful sermons at my church, I know I’m where I belong when I’m on my bike… Certainly, I’ve needed the touch of the Holy Spirit while sitting in the pew Sunday after Sunday to overcome chronic illness and life in general…but just as much I’ve also thrived from the healing and lessons I’ve learned from those long hours in the saddle Saturday after Saturday…
It’s easy to look at my new bike and question why anyone would spend so much for a ‘toy’. How could any spiritually-focused man like me be so obsessed with a material possession! But I see so much more than just a cool bike - I see an incredible culmination of many people using their God-given skills and talents to create a masterpiece that honors their creator…
Perhaps, I’ll need to adjust my perspective at some point and not be so enamored with my bike. Certainly, I don’t want to lose sight of the big picture and God’s plan for my life. And I have a lot of reality to address…getting on top of my illness…losing more weight…finding some way to make a living…and finding a good woman to share my life with…
But for now I don’t care what anyone says…it is simply all about the bike. That may seem superficial to some but I know it’s where I need to be. At some point in my Christian walk, I want to be in church every Sunday and get back into singing in the choir. But for now, the honest-to-God truth is that my ‘walk’ is actually more of a ride… a spiritual journey that few are so blessed to traverse…