How close are we to things we love? Cars. Boats. A house. Activities, and more. The stuff of life. Reality caught up with me in 2020. The bike I’d loved and ridden all over the West was no longer the right bike at 72. My ST1300 sport tourer was fast, comfortable, and suited me like a fitted suit. But my balance and reactions had noticeably gotten worse, and I couldn’t help but ride the bike as always, but that was unsafe now. Time to say goodbye. So the day before the buyer would bring cash and take my bike, I took it out for a last ride.
A turn of a key
a push of a button
and the ST coughs once
catches, then purrs
too long neglected but forgiving
ready to roll for one last ride
Slipping out of town past the wineries
on country roads well ridden
memories accumulate
like the countless clouds on a blue sky
an Iron Butt of 1,080 miles in 16 hours
retracing an earlier trip to Canada
climbing to the sun in Glacier NP
laughs and stories shared with brothers on two wheels
with the conditions just right
seeing rubies behind as I ride to work
brisk air invigorates
bringing memories of frigid days
astride the bike
28 for an hour’s ride up to Jackson Hole
18 degrees topping Deadman Pass on 395
A few photos
a lot of memories
Thank you old friend
But as the bike moved away with its new owner, I felt fine. No tears. No grief. Why? Every bike has given joy, yet when moving from it to the next, I moved on, wanting to enjoy the present/future and not get caught in the past. Also I’m learning to keep a loose grip on the stuff of life. Why?
First, stuff is temporary, with no guarantee we’ll have it as long as we might wish, “That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat” (2 Peter 3:12). Yes, stuff brings joy. Yes, we might have it on earth. But we can’t take it with us.
Second, our stuff can distract us from what is most important in life, the one aspect that lasts, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). We humans, at least this human, can focus so much on the fun our stuff brings that we minimize our eternal life. We invest our resources and time in what doesn’t last. Seems like a poor bargain to me.
Yes, I got another bike after the ST. It got totalled, I walked away…and got another. I’ll ride as long as possible. But I don’t want bikes, or anything material, to get in between me and God.
Kick Starting the Application
What material item or activity most distracts you from intimacy with God? What causes that in you? How can you loosen the grip that your stuff has on you?