It was the Worst of Times --> It was the Best of Times!

I just celebrated my birthday on Saturday. Friday night I was sitting in a concert with friends listening to their sons and others play music and got to thinking about the year that had passed from June 2010 to June 2011 and I realized what a great year it had been. 

The backdrop was the year before that - one of the hardest years of my life, following on some other hard ones. Dry, duty-bound times full of “Martha work” and not “Mary joy”. Dragging in at 7:30 or 8 p.m. each night thinking not uncommonly how I hated my job. Yes, there were bright spots – mountain biking, moments of celebration in our work, visits from friends, Single’s Bible studies.

But if I wasn’t burned out by the spring of 2010, I was certainly on a downward trajectory. When my regional director suggested a sabbatical for my upcoming home-assignment, it was like a window had been opened, with light shining in but for some time in a few months. I envisioned a “rebooting” of my spiritual life. (Hey, if they can reboot “Star Trek” and “Batman”, why not? Seems like a great modern metaphor).

In spring 2010, I started planning a sabbatical: books to read, verses to learn, disciplines to follow ONCE I got away from it all in June 2010. However, God’s plan was different – and better. Two different colleagues were prevented from returning to Mali in June last year and so I had to delay my furlough. When news of this came, I was disappointed, but like Homer Simpson, was slapped around by the Epipha-tree: Why do I have to wait to do those things? Why can’t I start doing them here in now in Mali. I did and God honored that.

In June 2010, I decided to go ahead and take the trip to N. Ireland that was to have begun my furlough. There the window began cracking open wider. The guy at the retreat center encouraged me to just ride the bike out along the cliffs and sea and NOT take books with me to read.  Just see what God might have to say. Very freeing for a protestant work-ethic bound person who felt the need to have something constructive planned all the time. I was also challenged to be serious about Sabbath rest and that flowered into a time of delight and rest that began wonderful transformation in the fall of 2010. Ask my friends and colleagues.

Perhaps I could have learned that lesson in the US on a proper sabbatical time, but it made a lot more sense couched in the weekly cycle of work (6 days) and sanctification of Sabbath time (7th day). It’s hard to “give up work” when you are on a time of sabbatical when you have no structured work duties. Not unlike starting a diet when you are already doing Lent.

Flash forward to February 2011 – home to the US. Sabbatical time begins formally in March. Lots of making space for God to speak in whatever way he might choose: reading in coffee houses, listening to music, visiting museums, walking through parks and cemeteries, meeting new friends, living in community, writing and blogging, cycling, cycling, cycling, Cycling across Oklahoma – call it a quest or pilgrimage but it was icing on the cake.

There was a stripping away of many of the extra things that we so often use to anchor us: familiar places and people, TV, work, regular internet connection, constant surroundings. And guess what? When you clear those things away, it’s easier to hear God speak. 

It’s been a time of God lavishing his love on me as His adopted son. It took me a while realize that this thing I couldn’t put a name on was what they call “Grace.” As I was writing this, as has happened so often, a song came on my computer that seemed hand-picked: 

This is what it’s like to be loved. This is what it’s like to be forgiven. This is what it feels like to be alive. To be living in a way that you don’t have to fear being zapped by God ‘cause you don’t measure up. After all. . . . that’s the point.
Charlie Peacock, That’s the Point, 1996

There was also healing (see blog post “unexpected tears”) and tears and grieving for those hard things of the past years. Someone said the tears are like vomiting – not pleasant when it happens, but you sure do feel better afterwards. And I can say that as I go back and review those things now, the scars are there but the soreness is drained out.

So as I was thinking of this past year, June 2010 in Ireland to June 2011, I can say it is probably the best year of my life. A great time of God following after me, pursuing me, bring me back home, rebooting me. Life 2.0 – that may be a bit extreme, but that is how it feels.

I went to sleep with this on my mind and woke up on my birthday. The Common Prayer for Ordinary Radicals Liturgy for that day had a reading from Ezekiel 34:16 that was a great birthday present:
I (the Good Shepherd) will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak.

Oklahoma Freewheel - days 4-5 (June 15-16)

If you are just now joining us, then you would find yourself on a bike in lovely Checotah, Oklahoma, riding alongside me as I traverse the great state of Oklahoma on bicycle with about 850 others.

June 15, Day 4: 
Today we ride from Checotah to Bristow - 74 miles. And no, Checotah is not that guy from Star Trek Voyager. At least, I don't think so.
After battling the storm the first half of the night and moving to the high school weight room, pretty much everyone had very little sleep Tuesday night. I got up late and decided to skip breakfast as we had a another long day ahead of us and wanted to avoid the heat. They had been serving us big breakfasts: egg, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and fruit and they seemed to sit a bit heavy on me, so I didn't think this was a bad idea until I got to riding. I was better when I got a peanut butter sandwich in me at the first rest stop.

I was riding with Kevin again (see Kevin above at a rest stop on Day 1) and he had a flat early on. He also had technical problems with his pedals that also slowed us down.
The ride was a bit shorter than the day before, but it was hotter and with being tied we were more tired. Most people agreed this day was even worse than day 5 which was 86.5 miles.

We hit the famous Route 66 when we got to Bristow, Oklahoma (and rode on it for about half of the day on Thursday). 

We were very happy to find that Bristow had us set up for Indoor camping in the brand new Purple Pirates Highschool gym. Air conditioning and proper showers.

 The bleachers doubled as a place for us to store the bikes. Reminded me of the scene from "Cars" where the cars are in the stands watching the NASCAR racing.

After we got settled in and had one of many "potatoes with all the fixings" served to us as meals, we headed off at 4:45 to the park in Bristow for "Speedwheel", which is a criterium or simple a crit. This is organized to coincide with Freewheel, but is mainly for people who drive in from Tulsa or Oklahoma city to compete. There were several races: Cat 4 and 5 (low level), all the way up to "Masters" (over 40) and Pro (people who are on professional teams). In a crit, the course is fairly short and the riders go around it 10 or 15 times. You see them go by every 4 or 5 minutes, so it is fun to watch. It's an actual race and you can win prize money.

The Masters' race

We went out to support Josh, an 18-year old guy from St. Louis who had been riding with us. He and a few others were crazy enough to compete in this after riding 75 miles.
I could not resist yelling "Allez, allez, allez" as one does in french. Hey, if they are going to call the bonuses "primes", then I can speak french, too.

Go Josh, Go!

In between races, we went across this little lake to the Pirate's Cove restaurant on the golf course for the BEST BURGER in the world. I swear it seemed like it but perhaps it was just because we had ridden so far.


Thursday, June 16 - Day 5
This is the mother of all days on this Freewheel ride across Oklahoma. We ride 84.5 miles from Bristow to Pawnee.

I got up at 4:20 so I could be sure to get an early start. And everyone else in the gym was zip, zip, zipping their sleeping bags, so there was no sleep. Unfortunately, as I was about ready to head out at 5:20 a.m., I heard the clash of thunder! It was pouring and so everyone had to hang around until close to 7 a.m.

However, this made for a nice cool start of the day.
Early on I had the joy of having a big caterpillar truck pull out in front of me going about 24 miles per hour. It was too wide to go around and I didn't want to be in front of it. So I drafted behind it at a safe distance. It pulled me along at about 22-24 miles per hour for about 3 miles. Finally it pulled over and my free ride was over.

This day was the day we rode along Route 66. I loved the old brick downtowns on this road and elsewhere on the trip. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by almost all the towns we went through at how vibrant and kept up they seemed.

Stroud, Oklahoma on route 66

Davenport, OK, where they still know and love the Tom Rye family

Chandler, OK on Route 66

Day 5 was the longest and supposed to have a lot of climbing in the last bit. However, the hills were gradual and we had a tailwind of about 20 mph from maybe mile 57 to 80, so we flew! There were times I was going 30 mph. Unfortunately, we turned for the last 7 miles and had that same wind as a crosswind. And the last 2 miles it was in our face and COLD due to a storm coming in to Pawnee as we did.

Pawnee was the home of Chester Gould who created and drew Dick Tracy and Alley Oop cartoons there his whole life. 

We camped around their old court house in a lovely setting on the old town square. I enjoyed the "historical museum" which had a lot of Dick Tracy memorabilia. They also had a nice local band out playing country music in the gazebo. I listened and plugged my phone into the Cell Phone charging tower (see below).

 

The only downside to Tonkawa was that I still did not have a tent and so I made my air mattress up near a bank awning. When it began raining at 2:30 a.m., two other guys and I huddle under there, eventually using my tarp to keep the rain off us. I ended up staying there until dawn rather than setting my bed back up. Pretty tired, but as a friend pointed out, there are homeless folks around the world who do this every night! So this is a lesson in empathy with the marginalized.

Day 2- 3 report

Couldn't post yesterday from wewoka - few charging options for  the phone.
Coalgate to Wewoka: lovely climbs through small mountains." A footnote to my series "everything I learned about life, I learned from training": when you train on hard hills a lot, and you come up against them for real, they are PURE JOY. I was flying, passing folks going up."



In the processes, I got separated from my new friends Kevin and did not see him for 24 hours. Now, I understand how Jesus's parents could lose him when they were going back from the temple.

Seminole Nation Museum

Lewis on Indian flute (pic by someone else)

Wewoka was a cool town. I went to the Seminole Nation and had a wonderful tour given by Lewis, a Seminole Indian. He told our group of 8 fascinating history, including efforts at linguistic preservation, how they were Christianized, elements of their tradition that point the way to God. He played the Indian flute, and told us a great folk tale - 20 minutes of pure captivation. Made me want to be part of an oral culture.

Oklahoma Freewheel - Day 3 (tuesday, June 14)

Today we went 78 miles and crossed I40, which divides Oklahoma in half north and south.

Crossing under I-40 near Henryetta

This was a great day to ride, as it was overcast and so never got hot. We left a bit earlier - around 6:15 and made great time. My average was 17.1 mph, the fastest I had ever averaged.


The route was mostly West to East from Wewoka to Checotah, via Wetumka, Weleetka and Henryetta. Kinda scary when Henryetta sounds like the big city. And it is, because it had a Wal-Mart and a McDonald's. But then it also had this lovely institution - the House of Overalls, which was doing a booming business.

In one of the smaller towns - population under 1000, I met an interesting guy at the convenience store, where our 800+ riders descended like locusts and sucked them clean of ice and food. The guy was dipping scoal and worked at the pharmacy down the road. He was really excited by having all these people come through his town and double its population for a few hours.

We rolled into Henryetta at about 10 a.m. There were about 12 of us who headed into the Subway for "lunch". (We had ridden 40 miles after all and had breakfast at 6 a.m.). There was one poor girl working at the Subway that Tuesday morning which shall forever be known as Black Tuesday. She was taking orders, making sandwiches, checking us out. And amazingly fast. She HAD called a coworker in and a bit later they reduced the Red Alert to just a yellow alert. By then there were 25 cyclists at the Subway. Side note: there were only about 2 bikes parked at the McDonald's across the street.

At the Subway, I ran back into my friend Kevin whom I had not seen for 24 hours since we got separated on the road.

my "non tent". resting the legs in the cool breeze and shade. 

Kevin's tent and bike

Another 38 miles later, we pulled into Checotah, home of Carrie Underwood. What a great host city. They were handing us free bottles of water and bananas. Kevin and Josh and I found a great place under the high school football bleachers for our gear.

Or at least it seemed like a great place until about 8 pm when they said a severe thunderstorm was on the way.

storm on the way

Someone I had just met offered me a place in his tent should the storm hit and it DID at 9 pm. I took refuge in Kenny's family-sized tent.
After about 20 minutes, the storm became really strong. The front of the tent was being blown parallel with the ground and so we had to sit and push it up. Eventually we were STANDING in the tent, holding up the front wall like human tent posts. After thirty minutes or so, it stopped and we discovered the tent was ripped and irreparable. They told us winds would continue from 11 pm to 1 a.m. of 60 mph (100 kph). if you are not from Oklahoma, this IS possible. We should take cover.

So I moved into the high school weight lifting room and had a very short night which made for an even LONGER day the next day.

Day 1 report

I missed the big group start of the Freewheel at 6:30 a.m. this morning. Left at 6:40 and felt like I needed to catch the field.  Then I caught up with my two friends at the rest stops. They actually left after me and rolled in after me.
There were rest stops every 12 miles or so including lunch at Wapanuka, Oklahoma community and senior citizens center. Flash backs to junior high cafeteria: barbecue beef on bun.
We made good time and rolled into Coalgate, Oklahoma at noon. 15.5 MPH over 65 miles. Rolling hills and a bit of headwind but nothing bad.
I'd say Kevin and I were among the first third to arrive , early enough to get into the indoor camping in a big room. Wall to wall air mattresses...
everyone else is outside in the park.
Coalgate has gone all-out to welcome us, all 900. You gotta love the friendliness of these little Oklahoma towns and their quirkiness-:
* Durant boasts the world's largest peanut- about 2 feet in size and made of cement. Why?
* every small  town has a Dollar General, family Dollar store, Subway restaurant, and sonic.
* lots of friendly and helpful people with great accents.
* several congregations on Coalgate got together, came to the park with food and a worship band, that definitively fell into the " joyful noise" category.
* little cafes and convenience stores that always run out of ice, but go all out when the cycling locusts descend on them, but do their best to serve.
Well, Another 60 miles tomorrow. More hills than today.

Day 0 - report

Day zero of the Oklahoma Freewheel
 is when you ride the bus from Tulsa to Durant. The bike ride on Saturday is optional: from Durant south to the Oklahoma/Texas border and back: roughly 40 miles. Of course, you want to do that, so you can say you have gone across the WHOLE state and not just all the state except 20 miles!

Here's the route:
Durant to Border

I got up super early and made it to the bus pickup at 6:15. Thanks to Jeff Maness for lodging and drop off.
I promptly met a couple of freewheel novices who I have hung with most of the time. One is an 18 year old homeschool graduate here with his great aunt. I kept up with him on the ride for a while and then he was gone.
Also rode some with a guy more my age from Ponca city.

We arrived by bus in Durant (DOO- rant) at 10.30 am and got registered. Then I picked a place for my campsite just past the endzone off the "savage storms" stadium in SE state university.
It looks like some freaky refugee camp housing the persecuted bike people fleeing their homelands.

Oddly enough they did not arrange shower facilities so we set off on our 40- mile ride at noon knowing there might be no shower until tomorrow when the shower truck arrives. Turns out they had 2 garden hoses for us back behind the bleachers which we used in our cycling shorts.
I was pleased with the ride, even though it was 97 F, the riding was good and the hills nothing compared to those in Norman.
At the border, we crossed a one- lane metal frame bridge over the Red River so we could say we started in Texas and went all they way to Kansas.

There is good camaraderie on the ride, a sense of sharing space, watching out for each other's stuff and well being. Even shared exhaustion and shared discovery.

I've been reading some books on rediscovering ancient practices, and brought along one on "the sacred journey" ( pilgrimage) by Charles foster.
He says God had always favored those who wander, who live on the edges of society, removed from institutionalized authority. Think of the children of Israel, Abraham, Moses, Jesus...
The journey is as important as the destination. We are just commanded to follow. I'll try to remember that at 6.30 as I ride out for 65 miles.

There's No Place Like Home

Dorothy had it right. There really is something special about being in a place where significant things happened to you, where you know where the streets go, and what used to be where, and where you just might run into not one but two friends at the Qdoba.
If you've always lived in the same town, you really can not understand what it is like to come home.

For someone who had spent fully half of my life overseas, I can't express how much fun I have had being at the Sullivant retreat center this month, where I had significant spiritual journeys in college.

Today it came to the forefront of my mind as I was  riding around the  OU campus. I could not help going inside some buildings and taking pictures.

Eugene Peterson talks about how God created us as people to be planted in physical places, gardens where we would grow. That is why it's so cool that Jesus came and "moved into the neighborhood." (John 1.14 in the Message)

Of course the other half of Home is being with people you share significant history with, even if you're not in the original location. That water under the bridge is so important, even if the bridge is no longer there. So we could add "There's no people like folks."

I've gotten to touch both sides of home these past few months, and I can day both are precious gifts from God.

The Gift of Poverty

Just a note. I set out on my bike ride across Oklahoma on Saturday, June 11th. I have preloaded blogposts for each day, which I hope to edit from the road with my phone. So stay tuned!

Now back to our regularly schedule blog entry:

When I was in Kansas City, I had a discussion with some of the guys in the community there about what spiritual gifts they had. One of them said, “I think I have the gift of poverty.” I kind of dismissed this initially as it is not one of the ones listed in the traditional “gifts passages.” Perhaps it is not a spiritual gift as such as we use those to help others grow, but more a special gift that God gives to some of us. Or a virtue.

But I know what he meant.  He (and others there) chose to work only as much as necessary and live off of that so they could have several free days a week to devote to their ministry and passion.

In my sabbatical readings, one of the books I’m reading is “Monk Habits for Everyday People” by Dennis Okholm. He explores what we as protestants can learn from the Benedictine Rule. Chapter 4 is on Poverty. The Benedictine idea of poverty is not the Franciscan concept of poverty is not the giving up of all things, but more the idea of “common ownership”. Martin Luther says “Goods are not goods unless they are shared.”

Dennis gives the example of nuns who inscribe all their book with “ad usus Sister Margaret” or “for the use of Sister Margaret”. Wouldn’t it be cool to put this in your books and also mentally on your house, car, computer. . . “for the use of Tim Tillinghast” which implies it can also be used by others if needed? (c.f  1 Corinthians 7:29-31 where we are told that those who “buy something” should act “as if it were not theirs to keep.”)

In our "Western Protestant Work Ethic"-molded thinking, we tend to think of wealth as a sign that God has blessed us, but that leads us to wonder, “Why does he bless some more and 'skip' some equally deserving folks.?"We also tend to look at poverty as a sign that people are not trying hard or worse are living in sin. Could it not be as a choice someone has made to allow them to focus on other things. Or perhaps they are simply blessed with the gift of being satisfied with less and wanting nothing.

Okholm suggests that poverty can be a “redirection of our desires to seeking of God and love of neighbor”. It frees us to hear the needs of others and the voice of God and stands as a correction to our “work ethic”. (Compare this with Peterson’s idea that we combat the idolatry of workaholism by keeping Sabbath.)

In his rule, Benedict says : 

“Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed, but whoever needs more should feel humbled because of his weakness, not self-important because of the kindness shown him.”

This kind of turns everything on its side, much in the same way that in Corinthians we are told the stronger brother who feels the freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols, or listen to rock music, or drink alcohol, should make allowances for the weaker brother. It seems counter-intuitive to say that the “weaker brother” is the one who has stronger convictions about partaking in “worldly things”  and also the one who has been blessed with more stuff.

Now, I have been on the road since March and will be through July 18. It is interesting living with just what I can carry in my car (and on the back of it, in the case of my bikes).

It is a season of living with less and being contented with less. But it seems like a lot when I compare with Jesus’ disciples who were sent out without any money and told not to “carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick.” (Matthew 10: 9-10). Truth be told, there is a lot of stuff squeezed in my car and Wal-mart is just a stop away.

In the book, Okholm quotes Esther de Waal, who says “The weak must have more things than the strong.”

Even when I compare with people who are established here in the US and have been given a lot, I have to agree with Dennis Okholm who says “Some days I am very weak”.

That is because I turn around and go back to Mali where I am at the top of the economic pyramid and need so much more as a “Toubab” to live than my Malian colleague. 

Last year, I helped 2 of my Western colleagues move. They were 2 single women and we had 5 or 6 vehicles there moving stuff all morning. My house would be similar if I moved. On the other hand, I have helped my Malian guard move and you can gather everything up in one load in the back of the car. Even a Malian family with kids can be moved in perhaps 2 loads of pickup.

In the middle of the spectrum are missionaries who come from Central and South America. They can live happily with so much less. The ones I know go out to the village with little and do not come in to town very often just staying out there and doing their work. 

So why is it that my organization makes you justify it if you decide to lower your living quota because you can live more simply? 

I guess the call is to find more simplicity where we are. Can we do with the last generation smart-phone and drive a car a few years old? When we find ourselves oogling over specs for the latest Ipad or Tablet or computer or bike or window treatments, we can ask “And how will this serve the Kingdom of God?”

I close with the words of the old Shaker hymn: Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down
where we ought to be,
and when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
to turn, turn, will be our delight
till by turning, turning we come round right.  

 

Everything I know about Life, I learned Training for the Freewheel - Part IV

 Day four of my musings on what one can learn from training for an endurance sport. And the moral of the story is "Tim needs something different to think about while out on those long rides". This really IS the last post on this.

Nutrition and Fuel

An endurance athlete – one in training and one competing – needs to be very serious about nutrition. You need a good base nutrition, day in and day out sensible eating. You can’t say, “I ate last Thursday so I am good for now.” To be successful in life’s race, we need consistent and every day time with God. The Word of God is the protein we need, especially after a long day of training to build up our muscles and not tear them down.

All sorts of racers try to “carb load” the night before a race to store up energy. They say that this doesn’t really work. Ditto for drinking lots of water beforehand. What is important is to eat in a healthy way consistently. Likewise, we should not ignore the Word and then hit it hard when we have a big decision or trial. That will help some but the base nutrition from day to day is what will carry you for the long haul.

Runners and cyclists also take “gel nutrition” for quick energy during a long event. There is no time for a full meal and you would not be able to digest it anyway, without drawing energy away from your muscles. So people use these gels, or as I discovered this week, honey, which has a very similar composition.

This “on the go” nutrition might correspond to verses we memorize and recalled in the heat of battle.  

Ps. 119:103 How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.

Nutrition also includes what you choose not to eat.

They say you should avoid eating processed sugary drinks and fat as you ride or run as it is hard for your body to digest those on the go.

Last year when I was in Northern Ireland, I was on a long ride with a friend. We stopped for lunch, which for him included a pint of whole milk and 3 ice cream bars. On the way out of town, we stopped to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral. After a few minutes, I couldn’t find him. Turns out, he was outside lying on the grass asleep. Now, milk is actually a great post-ride recovery drink and ice cream is okay, too, post ride. 

In the race of life and ministry, I’d say these things represent the distractions that we might feed on mentally: TV, internet, video games, etc. Not bad necessarily in and of themselves in small doses, but they drain your energy and distract you from the prize when you are out on the long road.

And if taken in large doses daily, you will end up with a lot of “excess baggage” that will slow you down considerably in the race, or totally sideline you.  

Speaking of Excess baggage, there is also “the sin that so easily entangles”

 Heb 12:1

This can include simply the distractions of life, but also the sins and obsessions that we cling to and carry around.

As I began training for the freewheel ride, I was setting off on my rides with a backpack holding extra water, tools, and all sorts of things “just in case”. And I found that my back was really killing me after a while. So I got rid of the backpack and got a little seat pack for the bike and put only essential tools there. And I got a second water bottle holder for the bike post. This way I am unencumbered and my back does not kill me.

One lesson there is that you can not plan on bringing everything with you will need for the long haul. You are going to have to find water along the way – you simply can’t carry 6 bottles’ worth on your back. This means depending on others and God and not trying to prepare for each contingency on your own.

As Forrest Gump said, “That’s all I have to say about that!”

Just remember when you are in it for the long haul: “There will be a party at the end of the ride and you are invited!”

Everything I know about Life, I learned Training for the Freewheel - Part III

Part 111

If you are just joining us, my two previous posts have been about what I am learning from training for a multi-day bike ride across Oklahoma. 

Today’s points are ones that do not directly relate to the activity at hand but do help when training running with “persendeverance” the race marked out for you in life. 

Tunes:

Pretty much anyone who exercises can tell you that it goes better with some slammin’ tunes. Yesterday while cycling the backroads around lake Thunderbird, I listened to “the Eye of the Tiger” (Rocky will get your blood pumping), James Brown singing “I Feel Good” (which my French cycling buddy likes to sing whenever we reach the summit of a big climb), the aptly titled Audio Adrenaline’s “Free Ride”, some dc Talk and Toby Mac, a touch of U2.

It helps if it has a beat that you can focus on as you crank out another rotation, rep, or just pound the pavement.

The point of music when you are out for the long haul is that it focuses your attention off of yourself and the drudgery of the long road ahead of you, the pain in your legs and the unbearable heat and onto something else.

The parallel in life is music that turns our attention to God whether that be hymns, choruses, praise music or some of the rocking tunes above.

Stretching:

Stretching before you set out for your run or ride is something that gets a bad rap. Young folks will just entirely skip stretching – I know I did for many years and kinda laughed at those who did.

Stretching prepares all your muscles for whatever might come at them. It prevents injury or pulling muscles. And keeps your core from being “tight”

So what does this correspond to in our spiritual life? I’ve thought on this and think it corresponds to the discipline that I tend to neglect on the spiritual side: contemplation. Sitting quietly, being still, reflecting on God’s word or something we’ve read or seen.  Like stretching, it takes time and can not be hurried. If done correctly and regularly, you will be ready for what comes at you in the day.

Hydration

Your body needs fluids and lots of them especially in endurance sporting events. If you don’t get them, you become dehydrated. Your electrolytes get out of balance and your muscles cramp.  A cyclist needs to drink a lot, one bottle per hour at least and more if it is really hot. If you wait until you are thirsty, they say it is already too late.

The parallel here would be prayer – communing with Jesus. This should be consistent and ongoing, tapping into the source, the streams of living water flowing from within. John 7:28. Without that, you will be quickly sapped and your thought processes will become unbalanced just like your body becomes without electrolytes.

Tomorrow – the last and final thoughts: nutrition and fuel