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.

Reflections on THE SHACK and Relationship

I believe faith is primarily about relationship. We try to make it mostly about adhering to certain doctrine, following certain rules, or abiding by certain behavior. All those things matter, but they are not central. Relationship with Jesus and with others through Jesus matters.

I'm halfway through one of the most impacting books I've ever read - The Shack by William Young. It's a story about a man named Mack who encounters/confronts God after the horrific abduction and murder of his youngest daughter. Here's an exchange in that encounter. (Mack experiences God as "Papa," Jesus as a blue jean and work shirt clad carpenter, and the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman called "Sarayu.")

Sarayu continued, "When you choose independence over relationship, you become a danger to one another. Others become objects to be manipulated or managed for your own happiness. Authority, as you usually think of it, is merely the excuse the strong use to make others conform to what they want."

"Isn't it helpful in keeping people from fighting endlessly or getting hurt?" (Mack asked.)

"Sometimes. But in a selfish world it is also used to inflict great harm."

"But don't you use it to restrain evil?"

"We carefully respect your choices, so we work within your systems evil while we seek to free you from them," Papa continued. "Creation has been taken down a very different path than we desired. In your world the value of the individual is constantly weighed against the survival of the system, whether political, economic, social, or religious - any system actually. First one person, and then a few, and finally even many are easily sacrificed for the good and ongoing existence of that system. In one form or another this lies behind every struggle for power, every prejudice, every war, and every abuse of relationship. The 'will to power and independence' has become so ubiquitous that it is now considered normal."

"It's not?"

"It is the human paradigm," added Papa, having returned with more food. "It is like water to fish, so prevalent that it goes unseen and unquestioned. It is the matrix; a diabolical scheme in which you are hopelessly trapped even when completely unaware of its existence."

(The Shack by William Young. Windblown Media, Los Angeles. 2007. Pages 123-124.)

Strong image. What do you think? An unrealistic assessment of things, or prophetic words? Let's see what the next bend of the river brings.