Yes, That's Me on the Bike

Okay, if you've been driving around my area today, the answer to your question is "yes"...I am the short, chubby, old guy peddling around town on the blue and silver touring bike. I put my kayak purchase on hold for a little while, and I bought the bicycle last Thursday.

I got it for several reasons, not the least of which is the price of gasoline, now approaching $4.00 per gallon. I'm enough of a child of the sixties that there's a little protest in it. In the last century we've gone from telegraph communication to palm-sized computers, but we've done next to nothing to change the basics of an internal combustion engine, dependent on non-renewable fossil fuel. The madness of over-consumption and over-dependence has to stop somewhere, so I'm riding a bike, at least to and from my office. (Don't be too impressed; it's less than two miles.) In addition, though, I love biking, it's good exercise, it slows down my hectic pace a bit, and it's cost efficient. (About two and a half fill-ups of my Toyota Rav4 will equal the cost of the bike!)

No change comes adjustment-free, though. I have a figure out a way to haul books, notebooks, and the other things I tote around. Riding the bike will affect my wardrobe. How will I prepare for days when the weather is fine in the morning, but inclement by the afternoon? And I'm feeling the effects of several miles on a bike, after having run several miles this morning - the old machinery ain't what it used to be. There are a lot of details to sort through when you decide to ride a bike to work. I guess I just have to decide whether or not the adjustments are worth it in reaching the overall goal.

We who align ourselves with Jesus face a similar decision. I don't think most Jesus-followers fail to offer Christ to others because we're opposed to doing so. Nor do I think we avoid this out of fear alone. The resistance may be due to an unwillingness on our part to make the adjustments necessary to do so...to build new relationships with people living far from God, to move outside of our zones of conversational comfort, to connect with people who are different from us, etc. At some point we just have to decide whether or not the overall goal is worth the changes necessary in order to grow the Body of Christ.

As far as the bike is concerned, this is the first workday using it, so we'll see. I'd still like to have that kayak someday. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.