Tough Uphill Climb-Sweet Downhill – BLOWOUT
I remember learning how to ride a bicycle. It was a small neighborhood hand-me-down outgrown by a larger kid and given to my parents because I was just about the right size. Wow, did I feel free. Zoom zoom around the block I would go (that’s all the day I got it) until I accidently ran upon the heels of a walker as I tried to pass too closely. Ut-oh. That got my bike exiled to the storage locker assigned to our apartment in the military supplied apartment where we lived. I was crushed. Fast forward forty years. I have an opportunity to ride in a fundraising event for church. Well, heck, I’ve ridden a bike most of my life > what could go wrong with this? Let me count the ways! I was not prepared. I had not trained, and it was a rolling disaster. Yes, I finished, but it was not fun. I stayed away from bicycles for nearly ten months. When the fundraising event rolled around the next year, I at first said NO WAY. As I began to apply a tiny bit of logic, I realized that I really did like to ride and that if I trained for it perhaps things would be better. So I trained – and YES, it was a more pleasant and enjoyable ride.
Late in 2011, I was told by a friend that his father was an avid bike rider and that I should call him and ride sometime. Sure, I thought. Before I could call, my friend’s father had called me, and we set our first ride meeting. The friend’s father, two other cyclists and I rode 50 miles that brisk winter day. I almost D-I-E-D! We rode together several more times, and in February I was accepted, by the friend’s dad, as a part of the group that would get to ride from Huntington to Washington, DC. in support of a goal to raise money for Homeless Veterans. Way more of a challenge than I had ever given myself. Training would be the key.
In the months that followed I rode many miles with the dad. This man was not only an avid bike rider; he was/is a skilled bike rider. On all of those long training rides he always stayed near, passing on tips and hints to make me more proficient. This man could have mopped the street with me any day of the week and twice on Sunday – but he never did. He never chastised me for not keeping a faster pace or for showing signs of being tired when he himself could probably have done the ride all over again with only a water bottle change. And on the long ride to DC, able to arrive a day and half before everyone else, he stayed in the group fading and accelerating to be alongside each rider to encourage and check on them.
Faith in my mind is similar. I remember going to church as a child. I would listen in Sunday school and church. I would sing the songs, play the games and memorize Bible verses during VBS. As the challenges in life increase, so does spiritual training have to increase. We can no longer ride our small faith around the neighborhood with the wind in our hair and not a care in the world. We have issues to confront that force us to try and fix them on our own or rely on God to see us through. A spiritual mentor acting much as my bike riding friend can help condition us -- one who is well read and well versed in the scriptures yet never tries to speed past us or make us feel inadequate or inferior because we didn’t come to same conclusion to a question as quickly.
While on the bike ride to Washington my rear tire blew. It happened following a fairly grueling uphill climb and while nearly through a fairly steep descent. I was traveling 25 mph, and the BANG could be heard far and wide. While a rear flat does not carry with it the nearly immanent disaster as a front tire flat, it is still a bit unnerving. Because I had ridden so many miles in training and been coached so well by my friend’s dad I was able to keep my head about me (and not throw my hands up screaming “I’m gonna crash”), steady the bike, apply the brakes and get myself to the side of the road. It’s what came naturally.
When we have climbed a pretty serious hill in life, admire what we’ve done and then begin the sweet downhill ride - only to have a blowout, with our spiritual training as our foundation we can do what comes naturally and turn to God first.
At 50 years old I don’t know if I’m allowed to have a hero. Sorry Bill, you get to be that guy. You have not only molded my riding skills but have shown me how a ‘know-er’ can and should act towards one who is not yet as far along. As my riding ability increases and my spiritual knowledge strengthens and increases I hope that I can be as patient and encouraging as you have shown me is possible.
Steve Matthews
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