what we see most of

An old boss used to tell us “unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes.”  It was supposed to make us go sell more, to many it was just a joke.  They, we are used to not being the lead dog, and can more identify with our view than the lead dog’s view.  While riding down the freeway last night and not trying to be the lead dog, it occurred to me I see the rear ends of more cars than I see the front end.  Can the front be an end?  But with eyes firmly planted on traffic ahead, I was almost oblivious to oncoming traffic, and it passed so quickly I had little time to focus on them.  But the rears of cars, that was a different thing.  I wondered, how much time was spent designing the rear you are most familiar with as opposed to the front that you first see?  It became a game as I rode through traffic....

As kids we could identify a small block Chevy or a 440 Magnum a block away, up close no doubt which was a Ford and which was a Buick.  Bu today with generic looking pod shaped cars, except for a few like the Mustang and Camaro, all cars look the same, with only a few telltale signs, such as tail lights.  Some are creative, some industrial, some show lack of style, while others just bore you to death.  No styling, which may explain the boring SUV’s a younger generation wants.  Or is stuck with.  But I look back, no pun intended, and this non-lead dog has had some interesting tail lights on his cars. Which made them readily identifiable. 

Even the tail lights on our MG’s were unique, like no other.  My first BMW 1600, those little round tail lights a styling cue.  Then there were the Pinto lights shared with the Maverick, duh.  The 1965 Chevy Impala SS left no second guessing as to what you were following.  Check out the Cadillac fins in the early sixties, no doubt who you were behind.  From C1 to C7 the tail lights of the Corvette are easily recognizable, Ford with its unique round tail lights a styling feature, in 1958 and 1960 when they deferred, sales dropped.  Didn’t look like a Ford.  Following a new Honda, or was it a Toyota, they all look the same, no identifiable characteristics.  Even pickups have a certain styling, but only from the front.  When are the designers going to pay attention to what most of us see most of the time?  How many of us when walking away and looking back at our cars, look at the rear instead of the front?  Which do you identify with?

Scripture tells us that no one has seen the face of God and lived.  Yet too many try to pass the lead dog and take the place of God in our lives.  When asked to describe Jesus, we see his face as he hangs on the cross, but how many can identify with the stripes on his back?  His flesh ripped open, the meat of it torn and bleeding?  Yet we sing songs about wanting to see his face, how about one about seeing his back?  Or the back of his hands?  Or the fact he is coming back?  Seems if we only seek his face we only get a partial view of who he is.  Because, as humans we turn our back on him, maybe the side of us he sees the most.  Yet he can identify each one of us by name.  What do you see the most in Jesus, and what do you want him to see in you?  Imagine the crowd seeing his back dragging his cross, never seeing the pain in his eyes.  Or only seeing the pain, but never seeing the reason why.  We tend to be one dimensional Christians, only seeing or knowing what is taught, when there is much more to a relationship with him.  When we think of Jesus what do we see?  When others see you, do they see Jesus in you?  What part?  I know many who are glad to see some religious person leave, yet few depend on the spirit, who we cannot see.  Why do we try to do it on our own, when we don’t have to?  And shouldn’t?  We are to feed his sheep, yet we hold the food so high only a giraffe can get it. 

Baseball is a lot like church, only the catcher or the preacher sees the faces of the audience.  The rest of us, we have a view of the rear, the backs of people’s heads.  So next time you cannot recognize someone, have them turn around, then see if you recognize them.  It might help, or provide some comic relief.  But keep in mind Jesus, and as we get to know more about him, we can see all of him.  We recognize him, and rather than the WWJD crowd, you know what to do, because you know who he is.  Maybe put this way, when you realize who he is, you will understand why he came. 

So next time you spend time in front of a mirror, consider the back side too, the side we will see more of.  When in traffic, consider what brand of car is in front of you.  You only see the back of the driver’s head, but would you know them outside of their car?  Better yet, would you know Jesus outside of church?  On the street?  Could he be right in front of you and you don’t know it?  We need a 360 degree view of him, and he offers even more.  We get access to the kingdom via him, and we get to come in through the front door.  If your view of Jesus isn’t changing, it might not be growing.  Keep an eye on what is in front of you, for where your eyes go, you follow.  Keep your eyes upon Jesus, from head to toe, from back to front.  See where he took the 39 lashes for us, and see him for who he is.  He never turned his back on us, but bares it for all to see.

Or the next sight you may see is in your rear view mirror, and the flashing lights aren’t there to comfort....who we see most of reflects in who we are.  What do you see, better yet who?  Turn signals to let you know where to turn, brake lights when to stop, and a third brake light at eye level. Now for motorcycles....you probably know me by my tail light...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the Big Three or how many Japanese cars do you see at car shows?

Quick, name the three largest automakers in the world?  Which ones come to mind?  Growing up we had the Big Three, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, later adding a smaller fourth, American Motors.  With GM at one point having over 50% of the new car market in the US of A, bragging quietly, because the Feds wanted to break them up because they felt they were a monopoly, “we are losing one of every two car sales.”  Chevy used to sell 25-30% of new cars, with their brands all within the top 10 in car sales.  So quick, name the Big Three in 2018?  And be ready for a surprise....

GM is fourth, Ford sixth if you count Nissan-Mitsubishi as one after their merger in fifth, and FIAT Chrysler America barely makes it in the Top 10 due to FIAT.  So who are the new Big Three?  Volkswagen.  Remember the Beetle, the second car everyone seemed to have, now they are worldwide more people’s number one choice.  Toyota, with huge sales in China, who sold 28 million new cars last year.  60% more new vehicles than the US of A.  GM used to brag the Buick was the #1 seller in China, no more.  But number three may surprise you, Hyundai.  Yes, that Hyundai.  Taking a deep breath, it is hard to think of a world dominated by these three brands of autos, I have owned three Rabbits, my son bought a Tercel in high school, and never a Hyundai has graced our garage.  We tend to be a Ford family, Mustangs and Rangers, I have friends still loyal to the Bowtie brand, some bleed Mopar rust when asked.  But have you ever heard of anyone described as a VW man?  A Toyota family?  Your family drives Hyundais?  Where have all the car people gone?  Are men not still men, or have they all gone genderless in their car buying choices?  Maybe the best answer is found in miles per gallon as opposed to cubic inches, or how big the screen is on the dash as opposed to the horsepower.  True, the world has changed, but China, the world’s number one auto buyer?  Next you’ll tell me that Jaguars and Land Rovers are owned by an Indian company that sells the world’s cheapest car? 

Seems the world has been replaced with soccer moms and SUV’s, a far cry from the secretary who drove the red Chevy convertible.  To the extent that Ferrari is toying with the idea of an SUV, but who among the latte set can remember the Jerarri, when Bill Harrah put a Ferrari motor in a Jeep Wagoneer, and tore up the roads in Nevada.  When Carroll Shelby put a Ford V8 in AC car and named it Cobra?  When gear heads used to stuff Chevy small blocks in Jaguar sedans, and a Boss 302 motor energized a TVR.  Those were the days, can you imagine the bench racing these days, “switching to the new Dynoclad Hydosonic 10, my sound system now has more power than my car.”  Remember, hybrid cars are here, and electric cars are next.  Not so far fetched.  No wonder mechanics are now called technicians.  Plug and play cars are here to stay.  Lest we forget....

When we started attending a new church, an ad in the bulletin stated they were looking for mentors.  I applied. was rejected because I hadn’t been attending there six months, I read it as indoctrinated in how they wanted things done, but was then called after they talked to my references.  They must have been desperate.  But a meeting with the head of the ministry, put it all in perspective. He wasn’t sure about me showing up on a motorcycle, or having a beard and long hair, or even wearing a leather jacket.  But we sat as he sipped his latte, I passed, and he told me the book that they used to mentor.  After listening, I told him I wasn’t interested, as signing off on a course in no way was proof of a problem solved.  I had hurt his feelings.  So I asked, “who is the Trinity?”  “Father, Son, and holy spirit, he answered.”  “Are you sure?”  And suddenly, he wasn’t, he was only about what he had been taught.  So I went on, “are you sure it’s not father, son, and the word?”  He paused, no he was pretty sure he was right.  So I told him he was, because the trinity is the father, the son, and the holy spirit.  But I began to tell him, that without the spirit, who reveals the mysteries of Jesus,  reading the Bible, the word, lacks meaning.  And his facial expression changed....

He went on to explain he was trying to get closer to God for years, reading through the Bible for three years, he was a hit at men’s fellowship.  He was studying John again and again, and now he got it.  All his studying was in vain without the spirit’s guidance.  He was doing as instructed, doing it on his own, without the spirit.  Now he got it!  And how different his Bible reading would be, as evidenced by our future meetings.  His Big Three had been changed by church policy, he was now on firm footing with Jesus, in the spirit, and his eyes opened to a whole new way of life in Christ. 

I did take the position, with the understanding I wouldn’t use the book.  I was already branded a rebel, and at the next meeting, endued the stories of how many had completed the course.  But deep down inside now he knew the difference the spirit can make.  But they had their final revenge, assigning me to a man who was a skater with tattoos.  A perfect fit for me they thought, although I don’t skate and hate tattoos.  Seems they still didn’t get it!  Who are the Big Three in your life?  Maybe a Keith Green chorus says it best, “thank you oh my father, for sending us your son, and leaving your spirit till your work on earth is done.”  Even Don McLean recognized “the three men he admired most, the father, son, and holy ghost,”  in American Pie.  At least he didn’t mention the car the disciples drove Jesus in, remember they were all in one Accord...

Think, can you imagine Christie Brinkley in a minivan or a red Ferrari?  Now on the subject of motorcycles....my Triumph Tigers are triples, I wonder, is there a message there?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

still in the mood to ride?

After following the plow over Wolf Creek Pass on the 4th of July, I stopped to take off the few warm clothes I had with me.  Sitting by the side of the road somewhere east of Pagosa Springs, I looked at my Z-1, and was amazed at what I had been through on it.  The tough ride had brought us together somehow, and as a plow passed on its return trip up the pass, I was amazed it was July, and I had been riding in a snowstorm, on two wheels.  With a moment to stop and reflect, and how the bike never missed a beat, nor did I.  And how next time I would be ready...

It was a blowing, raining, dark afternoon in the Panhandle of Texas on I-40.  On my Sprint ST, I stopped for gas in one of those unnamed towns just off the freeway.  All bundled up, and leaning against the bike so it wouldn’t blow over during fueling, I looked across at a family stuffed in a white Lincoln, the windows all fogged up.  And realized there was no way I would ever trade with them....

I had left Fargo on my Tiger heading west in a storm, for 191 miles I would be in stiff winds, hard rain, and cold, in the 40’s.  When it stopped and I gassed up and removed my rainsuit, I noticed the front tire scuffed up, on the right side, like a day at the track.  I had been riding side ways for so long it had scuffed it.  As dark as it was behind me, I was glad it was sunny ahead, even if it only was in the thirties.  Sun has a way of warming you after a cold rain, no matter the temperature.  A quick meal of mini donuts and a Coke and I was riding again...a big steak dinner awaiting me in Billings....

The sun behind me was so bright it was blinding me in my mirrors, but so dark ahead it was like midnight.  Then the downpour began, and getting of I-70 at Xenia, Ohio, I had to stop as a Mazda was at the bottom of the exit with water over its hood, but slowing, I kept going through it, and made it to safety, of sorts.  Pulling into a gas station, the overhang provided safety, until lightning hit the bowling alley a hundred feet away!  Helmet back on, I was out of there...and at my motel an hour later, checked in without showing ID or a credit card, I was so soaked.  The girl behind the desk understood, and I slept well that night, waking up to the sun shining in my room, with no sign of last night’s events.  I had fallen asleep thinking of the sirens I heard responding to the lightning strike, somehow so far away from the deep sleep I had just had.  With more rain to come.....

I had barely made it into Amarillo, riding up US 287, when the storm hit.  I had been in high winds with no place to stop, and even been hit by a tumbleweed, which carry some power.  At the Holiday Inn, the manager let me park my R90S in the lobby, which was good, as the wind blew my sliding glass door open, and taking off my boot, my left foot was purple to my toes.  With a new respect for tumbleweeds, and the next day was clear and cold, and I made it to my new home in Albuquerque the day before Thanksgiving.  You may ask what kind of fool would endure these riding conditions, but then you don’t understand those of us who ride, and our relationship with our bikes.  And the road....

Many safe motorcyclists would never ride in such conditions, might get there shiny leathers or new bike dirty.  Upset the image.  There are many safe Christians out there too, telling God how they want to serve him, then telling him how they want to serve him.  How they want to be like Jesus, and then find out how Jesus and his disciples suffered.  Suddenly a pastor hiding behind a pulpit telling them only good things is more appealing, and they live a life of being sheltered from the blessings God has for them.  Scared, and hiding, they won’t or don’t admit their fear, but have scriptures to back up their actions.  They behave like the 10 did that night after Jesus was crucified, scared and hiding in the same upper room where they had last seen him alive, some would abandon him in the garden, only a few were at the cross.  All but Thomas, who was nowhere to be seen that night, and who later questioned their story of Jesus appearing to them.  Maybe he knew them better than we do from the scriptures, as he doubted their words, and wanted proof.  We don’t know where he was that night, maybe out looking for the body wanting proof, or maybe street smart, not going to where the Romans and Jews knew they met.  He was street smart, and was out to weather the storm, but never alone.  Maybe he was not the doubter religion has made him out to be, for it is never written he doubted.  He only wanted proof.  Like those wanting proof of my riding in the storms, because it sounds unreal or unbelievable, we don’t stop for a selfie in the midst of the action, but we do pray while in it.  The storm may beat upon us, but we know Jesus is with us somehow, our testimony bearing it out, as we know and he knows.  And that is enough for me.  We are not performing to create a story to relate, we are living life with Jesus in it.  We are not out to prove Jesus lives, the spirit does that, we are just an occasional vehicle to share it.  Whether your audience believes us or not is not the point.  The moment in time was for us...and Jesus.

Consider your testimony, are the only or best times with God in church?  Or are they out every day in the storms where he is proving himself?  Too many tell us how to live but have never experienced life in Christ, only what they have been taught.  If you have never been in the rain in a rain suit, you don’t know the security of being warm and dry inside it while all hell is breaking loose outside.  Putting on a sweater when the AC gets too cold just isn’t the same.  Jesus promised us storms, or tribulation in our lives.  He never said you had to go through them alone, for he is always with us.  Somehow the greatest testimonies come from the hardest times, when we had no one else to turn to, when the storm was overwhelming us, and we saw Jesus.  Just like Stephen saw him calling him home, he is with us in every storm.  Some stay huddled in the boat in the storm like the disciples did, or upstairs, doors locked like in the upper room.  Afraid.  Not trusting.  Only Peter and Thomas dared step out, and religion has given both a bad time.  Want to get a bad name in religious circles, step out and lie life, experience Jesus, first hand.  The truth told, we need to be more like them both, to trust God, to seek him when we cannot find him, and not be afraid of what others think.  Or you can put on your sweater in church when things get hot....

Speaking of hot, the thermometer showed 124 degrees when we stopped in Needles for gas.  All the glue on my Arai melted and the molding fell off.  Arai claimed it was tested to 122 degrees....but that’s another story.  There are many moods to riding a motorcycle, just as there are many moods to knowing Jesus and being a real Christian.  Of course if you are a Christian rider you know what I mean....where will you be found when the time comes?  Just a thought.....from a guy who rides and knows about true shelter in the storm. 

God sent me a snow plow when needed.....so button up, the AC will be on in church soon, summer is approaching.  Better check my Arai....

love with compassion,

Mike

mattehw25biker.blogspot.com