Bumps In the Road

Sundays seems to be a day of solitude, of less stress and busyness; this is truly reflected as I ride my bike through a quiet subdivision in Northwestern Chicago Heights leaving the Metra stop at 7:30am on my way to my MIC church. Or perhaps this is because it is 7:30 in the morning and no one has stirred from their beds outside to fetch their morning paper, which are littered not along sidewalks, but within their driveways as the sidewalks are noticeably absent.

Interesting take on community.

Driving the same route in a car, the road is smooth except for the occasional pothole or the joyful season of construction when one gaily stops to smell the fresh new tar and admire the brightly colored signs... screaming in frustration.

Being in Creation equals freedom, freedom to be loosened from the constraints of society, melding one with the Divine, basking in beautiful..rainy weather? So whose great idea was this anyway to gleefully get on a bike (a man’s one bought by mistake), enjoy traveling on the train (at 6:45 in the morning) to ride through blissfully quiet (spooky) neighborhoods (cul de sacs with no sidewalks and one gated house with a police order standing watch) and being good to the environment? Notwithstanding also all the healthy exercise I’m getting along with the pain in my legs, the cramp in my hands and my glasses constantly falling off?

As I perused my bike route this morning, there is a different under my wheels of how the road winds and forms; it radiates within my muscles which doth protest too much. And yet as people of faith we find ourselves voicing our grumpiness and dissatisfaction when our own journey is bumpy, riddled with obstacles or covered with the morning dew of rain while others seem to have the sun shining down in perfect weather as they peddle along.

Then again, there are benefits being in Creation, experiencing the softness of rain which sprinkles down as I am reminded of my baptism. There are benefits in pushing my spirit up and over those bumps and tiny hills carved into the road because at the end of my journey there is rest and respite, there is happiness with open arms awaiting me, there is laughter and light encouraging me to once more never quit and never give up.

God's Peace.