Sometimes The Tiniest Thing . . .

. . . can stop our forward motion. 

On a road bike with skinny tires we’re talking about the sharp pointy tip of a thorn, or maybe a tiny shard of glass. Could be a rusty sliver of metal. Things not seen can derail your progress. Do you have a plan for going on down the road?

We usually see the big things in life. We plan for them. We make detours. We go around brick walls, and brick buildings. We weave our way around waterways. But tiny unseen things can change the course of our lives. A cancerous cell. A virus. A fertilized egg. A look. A comment.

It could be a thought planted in your brain. By God. By Satan.

How do we do get ourselves back on course? How do we draw ourselves back into proper alignment? Some lean on their own understanding. Some lean on God. Some lean on the wisdom of others.

Picture yourself reading a book, holding it in your hands. Go ahead, put your hands up like a book in front of you. In your left hand are all the pages you’ve read. In your right hand are all the pages you have yet to read.

Now picture holding the book of your life. In your left hand is the written record of all that has gone on in your life. The roads you’ve traveled. The path you’ve taken. The family, loved ones, friends, colleagues, employers, and neighbors, who have in part shaped your life and who you are. The choices you’ve made. The decisions you’ve made. It’s all written in the book. In your right hand is the rest of your life. The pages are all blank. The roads and paths you haven’t ridden on yet. The choices and non-choices that will create the landscape of the remainder of your life.

It’s all about the choices you’ve made about how to handle those big things and those tiny things that come up as you ride down your road of life. What’s your plan for the twists and turns in your road of life? How will you get around the big boulders and the tiny shards of glass in the road? How will you negotiate the parts of your road where gravity is your friend and the parts where gravity is your worst enemy? How will you handle the wind at your back? How will you handle the wind trying to blow you back? Are you ready for the wet and slippery passages? What will sustain you in the searing draining dry hot times?

Who will you lean on?

Where will you turn for help?

Riding Between The Lines . . .

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The Road Les Traveled

My apologies to Robert Frost, but I have a friend named Les who had a singular view of life. Les loved bikes. He viewed life through the lens of biking. He loved biking as a child. He loved biking as an adult.

He loved long rides and short rides. He loved commuting to his job on his bike. Les loved weekend rides, riding to school, or just a quick spin around the block. He believed that no matter how or when or where or with whom he rode his bike, biking made him happy and was great for his health, his community and the environment we all share.

Les believed that bikes not only carry us from point A to point B, but they also help us avoid high gas prices, make our air cleaner and our roads less congested. Les believed that bikes fill our lives with adventure and excitement, relaxing our minds and energizing our souls.

Les loved to ride with friends and Les loved to ride by himself. When he rode by himself, he often tried to ride stronger, faster, better, smarter. Les knew that one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. He knew there would always be stronger faster riders than he. But he also knew there would always be slower weaker riders than he. There would always be those with less experience and talent and those with more experience and talent.

Les always pushed the limits when he rode his bike. He tried to beat his previous times on routes that he often rode. Beating other people wasn’t important. Beating himself was what mattered. Improving his performance was what counted. Complacency was the enemy of progress in his mind.

The way Les felt about bikes, the way he loved bikes, was the way he felt about life and loved life. He believed God designed each of us to be brilliant. He wanted to use all the gifts and talents God had given him all the time. He believed that if he didn’t dream big, he was insulting God. He knew that even if it appeared to others that he was riding alone, he really wasn’t. Jesus was always with him.

His practiced passion for pedaling carried over into other areas of his life. He loved creating and accomplishing. He loved sharing and teaching. He loved leading but he was an excellent follower as well. He loved giving and knew that in giving he received so much more in return. Les believed in standing up for what he believed in, even if it meant he was unpopular.

Les knew in his heart of hearts that relationships were the most important things in his life. His relationship with his parents, his wife, his children, his colleagues, his friends and even with God sometimes took a backseat to the pursuit of his dreams. But Les knew in the end it was the relationships he had developed throughout his life that mattered most . . . especially his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Les is gone now . . .

. . . out on a ride.

Obstacles Attract

It all starts with a boy and his little red bike.

We're going to bump into all kinds of things in today's blog, folks.  So, "Obstacles Attract" huh well that's a fine howdy do. What in the world are we talking about?  Here's an example to get us started:

A bird flew into our family room window a few days ago. He left this imprint on our window.

When our Compassionate Samurai friend John saw the photo he was moved. "Wow! That is surreal, sad, and beautiful, all at the same time." 

Our friend Robert explained, "They make stickers that are barely visible to the human eye but birds can see to prevent this from happening. We need to use them because we have so many feeders in our yard. Typically its when a hawk comes by to eat one of the birds, they fly off in panic not really paying attention where they are going."

I said, "Seeing it in person makes even more of an 'impression'!  We never did find the bird, but he left tiny footprints on our hearts."

So what are we talking about today? The obstacles in our life and what we attract. Are we actually 'obstacle attractors' and what do we do with the obstacle when we attract it? Are there things that appear to be obstacles in one dimension but actually aren't when viewed through a different lens? How do we approach obstacles in the flow of our lives?

For instance, yesterday I was riding my bike. (Go figure!) It's a beautiful sunny blue, drop dead gorgeous, burn your drawers at a hundred yards, kind of a day. All right, a picture is worth a thousand descriptive words that I can come up with . . .

So I set out to ride my bike for 70 miles, training for next weekend's MS150 Bay To Bay Tour . . . Nope! You're not too late you can still help me help others by donating HERE! I'll do the riding from Irvine to San Diego. You do the donating! Deal? Did you know 200 people are diagnosed with MS in the U.S. each week? Talk about overcoming obstacles!  I'm trying to raise $2000 that will buy four lightweight wheelchairs for individuals who have MS. So far I've raised enough for three wheelchairs and maybe one footrest.

So I'm out doing this good thing. Being healthy. Being green. Being charitable. I'm in the bike lane approaching a corner and this guy comes up behind me and honks and yells. I look in my rearview helmet mirror (See above), and I don't recognize his 1971 "Anti-EstablishMint" Green Ford Maverick. So this isn't some buddy of mine honking to say 'Howdy".

Now in the state of California the Department Of Motor Vehicles says I have the same right to be in that bike lane that has become a right turn lane as he does. Some painter paid by the Golden State painted a wide stripe on the pavement for me to ride in that lane. It dawns on me that the guy behind me is honking and yelling for me to get out of his way. I'm thinking would he be doing this if I were in a car in that same turn lane/bike lane? I'm moving along at a pretty good clip toward the corner 50 feet away when a beer bottle sails past my head. Yeah, a beer bottle! I turn right at the corner. He turns right calls me a fag, shows me his gnarly middle finger, and continues yelling epithets as he goes on down the road. 

When I'm out riding my bike I try to be aware of everything around me in what I call "The Flow". The Flow has all kinds of elements of which I'm just a tiny part. There are cyclists, skaters, pedestrians, dogs, children, cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, all moving in The Flow. Every now and then you get something in The Flow that is a disruption. An obstacle. Clearly I was an obstacle to this drunk driver. I'm thinking to myself. It really takes a much better person than me to not respond in anger to a disturbance in The Flow like that. Then I start extrapolating into what obstacles does he attract in his life? Sometimes I get very philosophical when I ride. Sometimes I get very angry. Okay, so I'm not Gandhi on a bike.

It's like we were in two totally different dimensions. A choir directing book writing friend of mine, (who knew there were two of us?), has written two books in a series he's doing exploring dimensions existing in the same place at the same time. At that moment in my bike ride, I felt like one of the characters in his first book, Dimensions: The Wheat Field

It's a good read that will get your mind percolating!  Once you're hooked on the idea, get Dave's second book, Dimensions II: The Plethora.  It's scheduled to be released in November of 2010. Check it out at this website!

Fast forward about three miles. If you're having trouble picturing where I am, I'll map it out for  ya! CLICK HERE! This is my famous "Tour De South Bay" route that I created for my Outspokin' For Jesus! Christian cycling club. Join us sometime! Its a really cool bunch of people!  So, I'm doing a twenty mile longer version that will take me all the way out to the tip of Coronado Island. But I digress. I'm up in the top center area of the route on the map, and there's this car coming up very slowly behind me. 

It's an old Datsun 240Z. I'm thinking "Does everybody drive cars from the 1970's in this neighborhood?"  It's black with blacked out windows and an engine that has a full-throated rumbling sound. He's coming up really slowly, like eerie ominous behind me. Now after my last experience, I'm thinking what is this guy doing? I feel like Dennis Weaver in the Steven Spielberg's first movie, Duel. Only I've got this creepy black 240Z behind me and not an ugly massive tanker truck!

So we get to top of this hill and he's still hovering, loitering behind me. I make a left hand turn and he follows me very slowly. There's no traffic in the oncoming lane, so he moves way over to his left and passes me very slowly giving me a very comfortable wide berth. Once he's safely past me, he takes off. He was simply existing in The Flow with me as a kind, courteous considerate driver. We're in the same dimension, existing peacefully. What a refreshing change from the first guy in the old Maverick.Two totally different ways for a person to deal with an obstacle in their path. To be honest, I'd say 98% of the drivers out there are very conscientious about those of us on two wheels.

Speaking of two wheels . . . It's an eerie experience to be dropped off on a bus in Irvine at Oh-Dark-Thirty in the morning and realize that the only way back home is two skinny wheels and a 4 inch seat over the next two days. Did I mention you can still donate to my charity ride for MS . . . HERE?

So I'm going along with The Flow, and get another three or four miles down the road. I ride through an intersection and this car on my right runs the red light and makes a right turn coming precariously close to my back wheel. I glance back quickly to see if I'm nuts or if I still had a green light. I did. I then look at the teenage girl talking on her cell phone driving the car that had almost hit me. She's oblivious. She's in a full metal jacket weighing maybe 4000 pounds and I'm in a jersey and my ever stylish spandex shorts. Clearly there's no contest here, if we collide I lose. She turns left at the next corner into the mall probably to hook up with her friends. I'm thinking she still doesn't know how close she came to hooking up with the back wheel of my bike! Two dimensions at the same time in the same place . . . again. Drunk driver or dialing driver either way it's the wrong place for me on my little red bike. Am I the obstacle or are they the obstacle? Sometimes dimensions and obstacles are nothing more than puzzles and shadows to be figured out.

Those of you who know me know I love the arts. I see them as a bridge between heaven and earth. The emotional swelling in the throat, witnessing the fantasy of creation, experiencing the emotion and flow of a musical masterwork. I think they're all glimpses of heaven.

Along the ride there are lots of pieces of public art. Not necessarily things that make your soul leap with wonder, but more like things that make you say "cool". Like this sculpture piece, Banner Art by John Banks. I'm now miles away from the near misses I shared with you earlier. I'm out on the coast in Imperial Beach. So I ask you, is this art?

It may be an obstacle to you to see this as art. It may be up to debate until you see it from another angle. Dare I say another dimension?

Viewed from this angle, clearly it's "ART". Okay, so points for clever if not classic, but clearly, dimensions and angles can be hurdles or obstacles to our understanding. It reminds me of First Corinthians 1:18 (NCV)   The teaching about the cross is foolishness to those who are being lost, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  Those who believe by faith they are saved, live life and view life through a different lens than those who are not believers. Again, living in the same space at the same time, but in different dimensions. 

Well, I'm ending this piece on a happier note than I started, huh! A metaphor for life? Our paths are always filled with ups and downs and boulders and borders, and dimensions and angles, obstacles, and moments of 'flow', artistry and amazement. Sometimes frozen on a piece of glass. Sometimes a fleeting sensation in our heart. There will always be obstacles in our lives. It's how we deal with them, that defines our life. 

I leave you with another of my favorite pieces of public art along my bike ride. This one is called My Bike by Amos Robinson.  
 

 Yep! It's a red bike. Just like mine. Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.

Ron’s Theory Of Relativity (Go ahead click on it, you know you’re curious!)

It’s said that Einstein thought of his theory of relativity while riding a bike. Guess what? I thought of my theory of relativity on a bike, too! How cool is that? Mine’s a lot simpler without all the mathematical formulas and stuff. Ready? Wait for it . . . Wait for it . . . Okay, here it is:

“The Longer You Ride, The Stronger You Ride”

That’s it. Complete. The whole nutshell. The whole Enchilada. Okay, Okay, Okay. Here’s how it works . . .  

In 1996 I was surprised to see the parent of one of my choir kids on a bike at a concert we did on the bay front. We were about six miles from his house and I asked incredulously, “Did you ride your bike down here?” I was a bit amazed. I looked down at my middle age spread that was slowly developing and asked Roger (the biking parent), all kinds of questions. The next week I went out and bought a bike. 

Fast forward 14 years and 27,000 miles later . . .

It’s all relative don’t you see? For cyclists reading this, you totally get it. The rest of you will just have to believe me. If I ride 12 miles and I’m exhausted, but the next time out I ride 15 miles, then the 12 miles doesn’t seem nearly so far. And if I ride 20 miles the next time, the 12 mile distance becomes even easier.

When I first ride out to Coronado Island from my house after not riding for a while, I get pretty tired. From my driveway to the tip of the island is 40.26 miles roundtrip. After I’ve done that a couple of times it gets easier and I lengthen the distance and ride to La Jolla. 50 miles roundtrip. Then I go from my home further up the coast to Del Mar. 70 miles roundtrip. Ultimately I ride along the coast to Carlsbad. 100 miles roundtrip. Now you’re either getting tired reading this, or incredulous, or you’re already starting to feel the effect of Ron’s Theory Of Relativity as your mind expands.

Each time I add distance, the old distance which seemed so far at the time, becomes easier. If I’m riding 100 miles its not unusual to think to myself, “Wow, that 50 miles just flew by!” But if I’m on a 50 mile ride. Then the mindset shifts and at the end of 50 miles I’m thinking, “Whew! That was a long way!” See your mind automatically works out Ron’s Theory Of Relativity each time you ride.

Or each time you do anything else in your life. Say you’re raising money for a bike ride. That first $500 may seem like a bunch to get together, but once that’s under your belt, the next $500 comes easier. And the next  . . . you get it. Remember Roger and the 12 mile bike trip? That seems easy now doesn’t it? That’s my theory of relativity and I’m stickin’ to it. I’ve applied it in so many areas of my life.

If I’m rehearsing my choir and we’ve got 150 pages of music to learn, that seems insurmountable at that first rehearsal. But then five rehearsals later and we’re on page 108, and the insurmountable becomes surmountable. The unthinkable becomes thinkable. The undoable becomes doable. The unsingable becomes singable, ad infinitum. Ad infinitum  . . . see that’s my theory kicking in!

We used to travel a lot with our high school show choirs. We went to 17 countries on 4 continents over the years. We performed at all four Disney properties (at that time), around the world. I remember my 25^th year directing at that school. (Talk about Ron’s Theory Of Relativity. When you’re in year one. It seems like a really long year. But by year 25, you really have no idea where the time went!)  Anyway, it was the beginning of the school year and I went to the copy room to make some copies. A bright perky young teacher asked me what my goals and objectives were for the year. (Only a bright, perky, young teacher would use language like that!) I told her that my choir had performed at three of the four Disney properties around the world and this year we were going to perform at the fourth property in Japan. She looked at me with puzzled wide eyes. Her jaw gaped open. She sighed and looked back down at the copier and muttered something about her plan was to get her kids ready to pass the next chapter test.

My theory of choir directing was that the more performances we did, the higher the comfort level of the performers and consequently their excellence as performers would also rise. By the end of the first semester we had done more performances than most choirs did in a year. So when the choir festival competitions came around in the second semester, we had a tremendous advantage over other choirs. The more you perform the better you perform. The longer you ride the stronger you ride. It’s that simple. Yeah, that’s it folks . . . the secret to my choir’s success over the 25 years I spent directing choirs at one local high school. 444 awards later, not only my mind, but the minds of the kids, the parents, the school, the community, the other choirs, even the festival judges, had all reset themselves. The expectations were high. Ron’s Theory Of Relativity had kicked into high gear.

So let’s bring this full circle. Let’s get back to putting in the miles. With my choirs some years we went to great lengths, (see what I did there?), to make Ron’s Theory Of Relativity a reality for our students. We traveled. At first it was from San Diego to Los Angeles. Then we went to Reno, Nevada. Winning that competition set us up to go to the world’s largest festival in The Netherlands, and the world’s best known festival in Montreaux, Switzerland. See how the mind expands? You haven’t even been on the trips, but just reading about it you can see the possibilities. And when we returned from two weeks overseas, the choir was unbeatable!

The trips were always a highlight. The choir would bond together on a trip in ways that they never would by going to the elementary school down the street to do an assembly. We transcended being an ensemble, being a team, to being a family. Oh we still did those local elementary school and women’s club shows too, that’s what created the measuring stick for that theory of relativity thing. That’s what gave us perspective. But the longer trips, the longer measuring sticks, those were life changing. Those created the memories of a lifetime. Those put our show choir on the map. (See what I did there?) The doors that were opened to us through music were truly amazing. And we’re not just talking about “Magic Kingdom” doors here. Performing in all those Disney properties; performing in the Sydney Opera House; performing on the same stage as Duke Ellington; performing twice in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; being the first high school show choir from the United States to perform in the People’s Republic Of China. Seeing the Coliseum, Performing in the glowworm caves in New Zealand, Performing in the rain on the streets of Paris, Performing in the Montreaux Jazz Festival, Seeing the Great Wall Of China. We’re talking about Holland, Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Wales, Scotland, England, Italy, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and of course all over the U.S.A. Always huge memories . . . the longer the trip the stronger the troupe. The longer you ride, the stronger you ride.

I’m guessing you’ve experienced Ron’s Theory Of Relativity while reading this. Maybe just because of the length of this piece, or maybe your mind has expanded as the miles I’ve mentioned have expanded. Some miles on bikes, some on buses . . . it’s all relative.  

I believe our ultimate relativity experience is the time we spend on this mortal coil, versus the totality of our eternal life. The life we live on this side of eternity, however long it may seem, is infinitely small when compared to the limitless sky of an eternal life. How are you spending life on earth? Do you see your life as Teilhard De Chardin saw life . . . "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Do you start each day asking how you can be the biggest blessing to someone else? Try that for a week. Your sense of relativity, importance, significance, purpose, and meaning will all expand. I guarantee it.