by David Scott Robertson
My mom gave me some old photos the other day. She had held on to them for over forty years!
The first one pictured a 2 ½ year-old me on my tricycle.
The next photo was taken in Springfield, Illinois when I was 5 ½, on a bike where the pedals always pedaled and it had no brake (great invention for a kid’s bike, right?)
The last snapshot (this one in color) showed me at age 6 – a handsome young lad with a very cool red bike that coasted!
Early this morning I rode my 21-speed mountain bike to the park so I could jog and later this afternoon I will probably ride my 800cc shaft-driven, liquid cooled, 1997 Honda Pacific Coast joyfully down the back roads of Tennessee.
When I was a kid I loved to ride just for the thrill of it. At some point I left training wheels behind and raced through the neighborhood at blinding speeds. As I grew, to the delight of my friends and dismay of my mom/nurse, I learned to pop wheelies, jump ramps, and skid sideways on loose gravel. Way cool.
As I entered the teen years, my bike graduated from “just for fun" to basic transportation getting me from point A to point B without adult intervention. Less cool but utilitarian.
Nowadays, I ride for altogether different reasons. I ride my mountain bike for the cardio-health benefit, but it’s my passion to ride my motorcycle that I want to briefly tell you about.
Interestingly, I find that I have no need for speed. My motto has become “arrive alive.” I even wear a fluorescent orange vest when I ride. I can just imagine what other motorists are thinking when they see me coming: “Hey, have a look at the geek with the orange vest on!” But that’s the point exactly, they actually SEE the geek with the flourescent orange vest on and I live to ride another day!
But here’s the point in telling you of my love affair with bikes since I was a kid...
Each time I put on my helmet to begin my ride - without fail - I say this Bible verse out loud:
“Now unto Him that is able to keep [me] from falling, and to present [me] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy…(Jude 1:24)
(The operative phrase in this scripture prayer is “keep me from falling”!)
From that opening scripture on I enter into my “secret place.” I ride and I pray. I ride and I sing to the Lord. I ride and I meditate on His Word. I ride and I listen. I ride and admire God’s pleasant creation and the simple pleasure of cruising through it.
I teach a class at church at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. When I take my motorcycle to make the 1 mile commute to the church from my home I usually take the scenic prayer route. It usually ends up taking me 20-40 miles to get from my house to the church to teach my class. But when I arrive, I’m prayed up!
It just goes to show you that God can
help a Christian man or woman convert a commute into communion.
That being said, the next time you pass a tattooed Harley rider on the road, you never know...they may be like me having a time of revival with Jesus Christ inside that helmet.
DSR
5/14/05