Mick and I left the rest of the riders in Sisters Oregon and headed home. Mt. Shasta provided a motel room, then we rode together the next morning until he split off to Susanville, to return the bike he borrowed from his son-in-law. I headed to Placerville as the starting point to cruise along Hwy 49, through the Gold Rush towns scattered along the Sierra foothills. Windy roads, finding Mark Twain’s cabin (above pic), and exploring the funky towns made it delightful, but a long day of riding. To make the last leg easier, I planned on…
Read MoreClouds
Written in 1971 just a month after I returned to Jesus as Savior and Lord, the piece “Clouds” formed the heart of this post. Fairly compliant, I used to go with the flow. Any ambition came from trying to show I had worth. Then Jesus overwhelmed me as I grasped his value of me. No greater than anyone else, but enough that Jesus would give his life for me. Something, someone, worth giving purpose beyond pleasure to my life. Transformation: Step One.
Read MoreSpiritual Anemia--a Fix
A fellow teacher who struggles with anemia posted this on Facebook, “Why am I so exhausted after only teaching two days? Oh boy.” I understand; I taught also. But a more significant anemia is the spiritual one that so infects American Christianity. We lack energy and motivation for the things of God. We care, but not deeply. We serve, but not joyfully. We give, but not sacrificially.
The antidote may be found in a…
Read More
Strange Goals
Early on a cold and rainy morning, Rich and I rode our bikes from Stewart, British Columbia over the bridge into the thriving metropolis of Hyder, Alaska. Population 87 in 2010. An American city who uses Canadian money and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for law enforcement. “Alaska’s Friendliest Ghost Town,” as locals call it. But then, we saw no locals. One nice feature: travelers need no passports to go from Canada to Alaska…only to return…
Read More
image by Pixabay
Transforming Gratitude--Wednesday
Thanking God for a Purposeful World
In researching a book proposal I came across a quote by Jean Paul Sartre, “Without God, we are condemned to be free…Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon either within or outside himself.” Or, we have no purpose beyond a relentless pursuit of personal pleasure and advancement.” Kind of describes our culture—a zero sum game where we compete for who gets the most. That’s life without God, but…
Read More
Bucket Lists
Bucket lists typically focus on getting dreams finished near the end of life, but we all have goals and dreams and hopes. Important tasks we desire to do. However, we all face limits that hinder those. It may be physical conditions. Despite my love of playing football, I knew that would never occur in the NFL. Too small to be a linebacker or lineman, too slow for backfield spots. Now, I did…
Read More
Working Backward
I'm consumed with returning our yard back to good condition after six years of rental neglect left it overgrown or dead. One task: remove the back lawn and replace it with a brick patio. Rarely for SoCal in June, over 1" of rain fell last weekend, which softened the turf enough to remove easily. Well, easier than if it were hard and dry. So I eagerly started in with a shovel and old muscles and fairly quickly excavated 3/4 of the 600 sq.ft., only to realize I'd created a problem.
Take a close look...
Read More
Virginia Creek Settlement
Hello Again, Old Friend
Relaxing in the small cabin, the novel I’d been reading for pleasure began to bore me, so I pulled out my J.B. Phillips version of the New Testament. Now, you gotta understand the context. I’ve read the Bible a lot. Pastoring for several decades, writing Christian books, teaching in a Christian school and an adult Bible study class tend to encourage that. And, even though much of the reading is “professional,” I always ran the text through the grid of my life before sharing it with others.
But this differed...
Read More