After nine days on the road, and 3000 miles, we had eaten many meals
consisting of hot dogs and hamburgers along the way. We were grateful for the
free meals on the 2005 Torches Across America ride, but the murmuring had
begun. But one stop in Troy, Illinois had been a great break from tube steak
and cow chips, but with fresh pulled porch, home made cole slaw and potato
salad, and fresh corn on the cob, we were gluttonous, and gorged ourselves.
With little room for dessert, but being a biker, we somehow found room for the
cake, if only just one piece. It was a meal we would remember until Brooklyn on
9/11, when the locals came out to feed 15,000 of us with all the great foods
only New York can offer. Real subs and spaghetti. Some Chinese food, and of
course hot dogs and hamburgers. Where the line was the longest, which confused
me, why when all this great food do you choose the basics? With visions of Troy
still ruminating in my stomach, it was subs and Italian food, but yet many went
for the burgers. I still don’t get it, but it did make my line shorter. But
after eating and talking, as we had for the past nine days, we stumbled upon one
obvious fact. We had gotten so used to burgers and dogs, we began to complain
like the Jews led by Moses in the desert had. Manna for days on end, provided
free and fresh every day, and they still complained. Even willing to go back to
Egypt in slavery, where at least the food was better. And when this was brought
up, we were humbled. Never looking at burgers and hot dogs the same ever
again.
Live to ride and ride to eat we hear often among bikers. We like big
portions, real meat and potatoes, and all the fixin’s with it. We will still
ride over 100 miles just for a meal, but not a hamburger. Passing all the signs
bragging about their “World’s Best Hamburger!” in search of real food. For what
is a ride without food, how many rides end up at a destination to eat? So road
food has become a big deal, we plan our trips around lunches, we one time even
BBQ’ed across America. From fried clams in Two Lights, Maine to fish chowder in
Appalachicola, Florida, to cheese steaks in Philly, to real steaks in Oklahoma,
the answer is we need to eat, so let’s do it right. Stop at Ted Drewes Custard
Stand in St. Louis, eat a concrete at Culvers across the Midwest and moving
west, Steak and Shake milk shakes are a meal unto themselves, and the best subs
come from Jersey. With one memorable meal with Fr. Al in Somerset,
Pennsylvania, where I was thinking local fresh food, and he took us out for
Mexican! In Pennsylvania? Some of the best I ever had, the brothers who owned
it were gourmet chefs from the interior of Mexico, Rey Azteca, if in the
neighborhood try it. Fr. Al and I laughed about eating Mexican in Pennsylvania
for years...but I did get my Taylor ham and eggs for breakfast with him the next
day. Ummmmm! Which makes me think of his sister’s sausage and
peppers...suddenly I’m starving.
With Easter approaching, we are into the time frame of the Last Supper as
it has become known as. An interesting title, referring to the last meal Jesus
had with his disciples, a very special time in the Jewish tradition, as sitting
to eat is a time to talk, visit, and unwind while eating. Almost a holy time,
as it is personal and intimate. But to the disciples it was just another meal
at the time, they had no way of knowing it was the last time they would gather
to eat with Jesus. That their lives would be changing drastically, that this
upper room would never be the same, and where they now ate in intimacy, they
soon would gather in, hiding and in fear from persecution after the
crucifixion. How each relationship would change after that, but no Biblical
mention of there recollection of that last meal together. How different it may
have been if they knew Jesus was about to be arrested and killed, how different
they would treat Judas, and how different the world would look at them. That
night Jesus changed lives, that of Judas and others, but it wasn’t until later
they would understand it. They would go on to eat many more meals, with a
memorable one with Peter and Jesus on the shore, with Jesus cooking. Which
makes me think, of food of course, but of the last meal I had and who I had it
with. Was I a blessing, did I minister, was it a good and intimate time, or
just another burger on the run? Would I look back at it, and how would it
affect me? All things the disciples never thought of until after. We see Jesus
much different after that meal, they did too. But how do you see him today in
your life? Is he the bread of life to you, is saying grace a ritual or are you
truly thankful for him providing? If offered just one meal with him, what would
it be?
“Do this in remembrance of me,” Jesus told the disciples, and shared the
bread and juice for the first communion. Do we look forward to communion, or is
it just another first Sunday of the month interruption? Do you remember Jesus
and what do you remember about him? If you could have one final meal with him,
would it be gourmet, a burger, or would you be content with manna from heaven?
Jesus still sends us manna for heaven every day via his spirit, for we don’t
live by bread alone, or what we put between it. We are fed by what comes out of
the mouth of Jesus, how many of eat enough of him? Gorge on his word? Do we
ride to eat of him, or is life just another meal? What would that last meal be
with him?
The next time you share in communion, it is not about the juice and
cracker, make sure you don’t over emphasize the elements. Consider Jesus, maybe
for the first time, and look forward to eating with him again and again. He may
have fed the 5000, but how special is that meal with him? He saw nobody left
hungry...he offered more, yet some only ate the fish. Take some time today and
think on Jesus. Maybe have cup of juice and a cracker, and hopefully this won’t
be the only time you consider him today. The disciples never knew what was
coming, but we do. We just don’t know when. Enjoy the manna he provides, the
ride to eat it, and the table you share with others. Tip the waitress, if only
they knew then what they were to find out, it was Jesus who left the tip on the
table for them.
So is a ride complete without food? Maybe, but a ride without Jesus will
always leave us hungry for more than something to eat. We saw the hand of God
feeding us on the trip, only after we were reminded. The Jews wandered around
for 40 years and never got far from home, but never any closer to God either.
Jesus provides the bread, what you put between it is up to you. Primonti Bros.
in Pittsburgh, a whole meal between the bread. A variation on the words of
Jesus some 2000 years ago. With no Tripadvisor to guide. Buon appetite! Vaya
con Dios! Let’s ride! Let’s eat! Let’s pray...that you will never again eat
alone.
love with compassion,
Mikematthew25biker.blogspot.com