Run Free

So, my 7 year old has a couple of friends over, and the first 15 minutes was full of the typical back and forth game.  Running to the back yard, running to the upstairs play room, running to the living room, running to the back yard, running to the family room…get it?  Since I’m not exactly one for chaos, and sometimes the back and forth pitter patter of little feet combined with those giggly screams are often to me as fingernails on a chalkboard, my first reaction is to cringe and call the action to a halt.  But, after preaching a sermon this morning touting my wife’s mantra “You Should Do It!” which fuels my cycling habit, I must revert to my second reaction… “Let it be.”  In fact upon further observation I actually enjoyed the speed, spirit and freedom exhibited by the last youngster passing through the kitchen!  It’s a spirit that I recognized.

You see, we two wheelers know something about that kind of spirit- it’s a desire for discovery mixed with a dash of hope and a heap of freedom.  It’s what pulls us to the road, and invites us to the spin.  Speed, spirit and freedom create this kind of vortex of hope that propel us down the road…perhaps even the road of life.  It’s a mystery unfolding that keeps us on the edge of our seats- yep, I mean these kids, I mean riding bikes, and I mean life- unfolding, with every step.  Today I find patience, tomorrow it’s joy, yesterday is was hope, and right now, it’s freedom in the giggles and speed.  We never quite know what the next moment holds, but why squelch it?  Why try to control it?  We are like stallions in the prairie, we are better if left to run free.

Share the Road! Cow Up!

I’ve been reading a lot about this doctor convicted of road rage against cyclists in California.  Various news sources are covering it, especially cycling news outlets (try this one http://velonews.com).  Monday an L.A. jury found Dr. Thompson guilty of assaulting cyclists by stopping his car suddenly, right in front of them last year.  Apparently this former emergency room doctor was found guilty of six felonies and one misdemeanor and could face as time in prison.  This is truly a sad story for everyone involved.  It’s horrible to imagine the experience from the cyclists perspective as he smashed through the rear window of the car.  Clearly Dr. Thompson has had other issues with cyclists, as you don’t just all of the sudden commit such acts of violence randomly (in fact there was one other incident on file).

“Share the Road” ought to be the golden rule!  Do unto others…seems like it ought to go a lot further when we’re talking about 15 pounds of aluminum versus a 2 ton car!  Personally, I have only had a few run-ins with motorists around here, and mostly that’s just a few mean pickup trucks honking and hollering.  I’ve actually only been yelled at 3 times this year.  In many states there are laws about harassing, yelling, throwing things at cyclists and driving recklessly.  There are also laws about stop signs, red lights, clearance distances required and other items important to those special vehicles you encounter on the road.  Do you know what your state laws require?  

Check this detailed account- http://www.massbike.org/bikelaw/indiana.htm 

But, here’s the real story for today-

Cyclists are used to signaling one another in a group.  I’ve gotten used to hearing everything from “Roadkill” to “Thorn” to “Hole” and reacting appropriately.  On the 2nd day of the Hilly Hundred just about 10 miles in, I crested one hill and came upon that slightly chaotic moment where you know something is up, and get prepared to react.  When I saw it, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Think about it, southern Indiana, farms all around – yep!  Running down one side of the road, coming right at me- was a cow!  A big black, not so happy looking cow.  The farmer was waving people over to the other side of the road, and I kept hearing “Cow Up!  Cow Up!”  She trotted around, weaving back and forth so much I couldn’t decide who was more afraid of who.  As I passed by, she darted across behind me and I hit the gas to get out of there!  It was the talk of the rest stop just a couple miles down the road.

Never seen that- but, it is a good reminder to me – Share the Road!

 

Climbers

Here is what I shared this past Sunday as our All Saints and Commitment Sunday came together in worship…

Most of you know of my love for cycling.  Last weekend I was in the company of some 5000 of my closest friends and we were hanging out on the top of Indiana’s biggest mountains.  Well…hills anyway.

It is an amazing event, the Hilly Hundred, rolling 50 miles Saturday, 50 miles Sunday.  8528 feet of total climbing.  With that many like minded people- it’s a rolling party all the way!!

As I was preparing for this big ride I received my November issue of Bicycling Magazine about 3 weeks ago.  I breezed through it as I always do reading quick the small articles about nutrition and training and making note of the bigger articles I wanted to read in depth.  In this particular issue they made a list called the “You know you’re a cyclist when…”  and they’d come up with just over 100 running the spectrum from crashing and walking home to fixing your bike with ducktape.  But…the number 1?? Well, it was perfect for today.  You know you’re a cyclist when…“you realize that the hill isn’t IN the way- it IS the way…”

In the Tour de France there are several winners.  There’s the Yellow Jersey- the one with the overall shortest time.  There’s the Green Jersey- the one with the most Sprinting points and wins.  There’s the White Jersey- the best rider under 23 years old.  And then there’s the Polka Dot Jersey- or King of the Mountains Jersey.  Points are awarded to the riders first over the top of the major mountain climbs and this jersey goes to the rider with the most points.   

It really is those special people in this world who seem to realize that the hill isn’t in the way…it is the way.  Those people who really seem to be climbers…that we look up to.

I read a great book this past summer during my sabbatical. It was called Uphill Battle by Owen Mulholland and it was chocked full of stories of heroics…disasters…and innovations.  People like Rene Pottier, Victor Fontan, Antonin Magne, Rene Vietto, Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond, and Miguel Indurain.  Perhaps you don’t recognize the names, but they are some of the cycling greats!  They are the pathfinder, pioneers, vanguard, trailblazers, guides and leaders who brought something NEW and UNIQUE, who shaped and formed the Tour…in some special way.

In 1905 Rene Pottier was the first real mountain climber to tear off and leave everyone behind in the Vosges mountains. Fausto Coppi, in the late 1940s and 50s, not only topped the list with major race wins, but he also transformed the sport- with improvements in team work, in training, and even in the mundane – where he revolutionized cycling by having his team wear cleanly washed uniforms every day- eliminating the discomfort of the saddle issues. Jacques Anquetil made amazing summit catches of his opponents. Eddy Merckx won just about every race he entered…and he’s the only professional cyclist to have won the Yellow, Green, and the King of the Mountains Polka dot Jersey all in one Tour de France. 

But…most of you wouldn’t know that kind of stuff. To many of you, they are just names. You don’t know how they reshaped cycling, how they helped mold the sport they loved. Interesting…listing of names…isn’t it??!

Every year at this time, the church claims one Sunday as All Saints Sunday and we list off names…the names of those pathfinders, pioneers, and trailblazers, who have gone before us. You probably won’t recognize all the names. Goodness knows our church is too big for you to know everyone by name and we celebrate and claim that as a blessing. But these individuals we remember today are representative of a family, of a story and of a faithfulness. Perhaps you know their story…perhaps their story is your story; of how they grew up in this church, or how they helped build this church, or how they moved here later in life, and found a home in this church.  No matter the timing in their lives, we remember this day, how they shaped this church…and how it shaped and molded them. Southport Christian was a place where they heard God’s call- to climb Jacob’s ladder, to strive in their faith, to open their hearts…and let Christ’s shining light come in.

We claim and believe that these who have gone before us are in full and glorious communion with God, and today we celebrate and remember their lives, their impact, and their climb.

Who is it, you are remembering this All Saints day??

 I invite you to open your scriptures with me…MATTHEW 17:1-8

 The transfiguration is a powerful story. It’s the kind of glory and awe that one can only experience after a long mountain climb. Sometimes the mountain tops are as close as we can get to heaven without actually leaving the surface of the earth and Jesus knew that it was the mountaintops that transform us. That’s why he recruited Peter…James…and John that day.

That’s also why I saved my climb for last.  Toward the end of my sabbatical I ventured to Asheville North Carolina, where I hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway to climb Mt Mitchell. At 6684 ft. elevation it’s the highest peak east of Harney Peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

It was a spectacular climb…nestled along the rocky outcroppings on one side as the road clings to the mountain, and beautiful blue green vistas flowing off to the other side.  I rolled through dark tunnels…and up…around tight corners…and up…past picnic area entrances…and up…and through constructions zones…and up.  It was a long a slow 33 miles…a 2 hour climb. After reaching the top and taking a few pictures, I came back down to the snack shack there by the parking lot and in rolled 3, I would say, transfigured men. We sat and swapped cycling talk for about 20 minutes or more. 

But what struck me about that moment that ties it to today’s scripture is that one of those men that I met on the mountain sat slightly behind the other two. He sat on the sidewalk and took off his jacket to reveal a brightly colored jersey, and he laid down on that sidewalk…and stretched himself out in sort of a cross position….and soaked in the sun that was shining down.

And I thought to myself….Hmmmm…“Lord it is good for us to be here!”

God is so palpable in those holy spaces high up in the mountains and in the woods. My new friends and I shared a communion of candy bars and cokes, as I quietly pondered the longest climb of my life– well the longest climb of my life so far! 

Transfigurations aren’t something that can happen just any old time or place. It’s the kind of thing that only happens after a long…serious climb. THAT’s where we see the GLORY OF GOD!! 

Friends, Jesus is inviting us to follow him up the longer climbs. The one’s that really challenge us….test our resolve…and move us to new levels of strength and faithfulness… 

We are all climbing Jacob’s ladder. As we remember our saints today we know that God is the perfector of our faith, that Hope is what gives us strength to carry on, and that their stories…have molded our stories….and our stories will shape and mold that of those who would follow after us…

Be a climber…right up there with the likes of Anquetil, Coppi, or Merckx…or Peter…James…or John. Make your commitment to strive in faith today resolving in your life, that the hill isn’t IN the way…It IS the way…

Blessed Hills

This past weekend I completed my first full Hilly Hundred.  2 days, 100 miles, 8000+ feet of climbing!  Of course, we ”Southside Scurriers” met at the end of the second day’s ride, grouping up at our stop sign meeting place.  Congratulations were shared all around, but special kudos were handed out to me and Dewayne.  I was getting high fives for my first complete, and Dewayne was getting props for his 17th complete Hilly in a row!  WOW!  17!  I have to admit- I am impressed!

I had the best time.  We all were light years improved from last year (I only did one day last year!).  At times we were cranking it.  In the last 10 miles a paceline formed that took off 22+ into a stiff breeze.  A handful of us were together, and like a bolt of lightning out of nowhere, this line formed and accelerated, calling “jump on, or get lost!” and I jumped!  After a mile, Rob ran out of gas and hollered for me to jump the gap.  I hit it hard, landed on the tail just in time to hit the brakes as we split apart finding our own line across the grated bridge surface…then, as quickly as it blew apart- the line snapped together and darted forward.  I had one more half mile of strength, then looked up to see the next hill looming in the distance.  There was no way I was going to be able to crest that hill if I kept this pace.  The feeling was exhilarating, but the head said “no!”  So, I fell off, and got jumped by people I didn’t even know were there!  And off they all went.

But that was not the majority of my experience, as I said, we rocked that hilly!  We passed a lot of people on the way up, and on the way down.  We didn’t wait for much, just an occassional extra cookie or piece of chicken!  It was an amazing ascent of Mt. Tabor at 22% grade, with bikes all over the road- and nary a car in sight!  It was a great stay in Robert’s lake cabin outside Gosport.  It was a great pizza at Nick’s in Bloomington.  It was a great 100 miles!

People of all stripes and sizes attack these hills every year and there are all kinds of results.  I came out better than I expected, with better friends than I expected, and found better legs than I expected.  Is that what this is all about?  Perhaps- but, I think more importantly, when I finish a goal even like this- I remember that I am FAR MORE BLESSED than I could ever imagine.  For that, I am eternally grateful!  Now, I just have to remember to show how grateful I am as often and a graciously as I can!!!

Ready to Climb

I am ready for the Hilly Hundred this weekend.  Afterall, as one of my friends said, I’ve been back to work for, what, 4 weeks now!  Yes, re-entry into congregational life from a summer sabbatical is very interesting.  Clearly change has NOT stopped at Southport, waiting for me to catch up.  Heck, before I arrive this morning they were already tearing out carpet, bathroom fixtures and marking up walls!  (I said a solemn fairwell to my favorite toilet!)

But this weekend, I join my ride group in the annual Indiana feature- the Hilly Hundred; 100 miles, 6000+ feet of climbing Saturday and Sunday.  I promised myself I would take this Sunday off this year and do the whole thing – including the Mt. Tabor climb.  Ironically when I return to preach the following Sunday, I am preaching on the Transfiguration – which was suspected to have taken place on Mt. Tabor (just a different Mt. Tabor)!

I am ready to climb again.  It’s an addiction.  I can’t get enough upward movement.  I think I’m going to have to move closer to the mountains some day because there is something both mystical and humbling about the climbs.  It’s an amazing feeling to just sit, and feel your legs in motion, tingling with that readiness, that seems to know that if at any moment the power is required, “I can go!”  No, I’m not going up Alp d’Huez this weekend, or even up Mt.  Mitchell or anything special…but, for me, these climbs will be the summary of my summer.  A reminder of the movement up towards God, of the time in prayer and of the readings.

I hope that I am following up my time with conviction and sharing the right experiences with my congregation.  Too often, I keep things inside, that I really could or even should share.  Maybe sharing the road this weekend with 5000+ other cyclists will remind me to share humbly and wholly!