Friendly Fire

Tim Riter January 6, 2020

Rich began riding bikes a few years before me, on a Honda 350. I soon bought a similar one, then Rich moved up to a larger ride, the Harley Super Glide. Yeah, a few decades back. We’d rag on each other’s bikes—Rich defending Harleys, me defending Hondas. Once his wife thought we were ready to break out the fists, but it was a friendly rivalry. Much like the comparison in the pic above of a Harley and a Honda. So when he T-boned me in Blythe, CA, it was accidental, right? We’d…

Desert Oasis

Tim Riter December 30, 2019

The bad news arrived in Grants NM, nighttime. Appropriate. In the midst of a two-week bike trip with friends, Jerry and I received word that key family friends and church members had passed. Totally separate events and people, but we each had to abort the ride. The next AM we left Mick and Tom behind and headed the over 700 miles to SoCal across the desert, with temps nearing 118. Beaten by the heat, we stopped for gas in Needles, after 455 miles, with 270 left. I remember …

What Child is This: A Reconciler

Tim Riter December 24, 2019

Christmas “split time” in a sense—we date our years from Jesus’ birth. It sparked a worldwide faith. At the core of those changes, we find a Jesus who entered the world to be a reconciler. To bring often radically people together. That had to begin with…

Check It ALL Out

Tim Riter December 16, 2019

Last week, Welk Resorts “gifted” us with two free nights—IF we submitted to a one-hour sales presentation. Sheila’s highlight: hitting the shops along El Paseo in Palm Desert on our last day. Yeah, she succumbed to temptation. My highlight: spending those two hours ambling from art gallery to gallery. In the Elena Bulatova Fine Art Gallery, I turned a corner and saw a unique pic of Marilyn Monroe—a crush from my junior high days. I stepped to the center of the painting, and it became…

Mean People Suck--But Kindness Works

Tim Riter December 9, 2019

Not long ago while driving on a traffic-engorged freeway, a red Honda Civic cut in front of me so close I had to slam on my brakes to keep my F150 from ramming him. Yeah, likely lost a number of miles of tread with the skid. And I got close enough to read the sticker on his window: “Mean People Suck.” Honestly, the humor of the hypocrisy mellowed my madness somewhat. Somewhat. About then…

Works in Progress (WIPs)

Tim Riter December 2, 2019

On our fall visit to the east coast and DC, we strolled down Pennsylvania Ave in front of the White House. Lafayette Park and its protestors at our backs, we saw the above pic of the WH undergoing construction of some sort. Likely external security on the fence, but the Secret Service wouldn’t tell. Can’t figure out why. 😉

We’d toured a traveling WH model a few years back at the Reagan Library, and the lessons there and the fence combined to make me see the White House as a Work in Progress, or WIP to writers. Here’s its story…

Serenity or Stress--Your Choice

Tim Riter November 18, 2019

We all face sources of stress. Jobs. Relationships. Family. Finances. Neighbors. Life isn’t always a stroll in the park, but perhaps we can extract a lesson from my bike trips. The pic above came from the ride from SoCal to Alaska in August 2019 with Rich. The stretch of road between Kitwanga Junction and Stewart BC, right next to Hyder, Alaska, held chances to spot grizzlies and moose and deer and glaciers. But no one mentioned it ranks among the most…

Do Words Matter?

Tim Riter November 4, 2019

I’ve seen this post multiple times, and can’t express how profoundly these words impact me. From Sir Winston Churchill as it claims? Likely not, but that’s immaterial. The purpose, often put up by people whom I know love Jesus, attempt to justify bad and offensive language by leaders and ourselves, and this can be from both political persuasions. However, this Unconventional rant is NOT political—but essentially spiritual. The question: do these words represent or oppose how Jesus and the Bible view words? Good words…

Unconventional

Old Faith, New Following