It was all over in an instant, but the damage would be permanent. I was
sitting at a railroad crossing, when the lady slid on the ice into me while
driving my Coke truck. Minor fender bender, but my head hit the back glass in
the truck, causing my ears to ring forever. Tinnitus it is called, and the
damage done in that split second will last forever. The audiologist told me my
hearing was equivalent to someone who worked in a loud factory for 40 years-I
was only 32 at the time. And so many things I don’t hear, and rather than learn
sign language, again advised, I listen for phrases instead of words, and have to
have you repeat things so I can hear them. No silence for me either, and on
quiet nights the ringing is loudest. Specialists tell me that no one has ever
gone crazy from it, they never had it obviously.
Our world is filled with background noise, sounds that we don’t hear but we
hear all the time anyway. From traffic, to neighbors, to factories, to the
buzzing going through overhead wires, it is always there. But last weekend
while riding away from the city, my bike sounded different. I could hear the
exhaust clearer, I could hear the valves in the motor, and even the tires along
the road as I went into the curves hard. Sounds that are there every day, but
cannot be heard over the din of life. Cool sounds that when combined with urban
noise and my tinnitus are blocked from me everyday. Sounds that warn of fun or
danger, sounds that ask “can you hear me now?” Sounds I wish I could answer yes
to.
A few years ago I did the sound for the movie SALT. The sound you hear of
Angelina Jolie riding the Street Triple R is me. I did over 100 passes at over
100 mph, and got paid for it. Fun like you can only imagine, but we had to go
in the middle of nowhere outside of Lancaster to do it. The bike was miked up,
and you could hear every little sound the engine made, sounds the mikes heard,
but you don’t. We heard brake noises that it took a while to identify, and
noises I had never heard before. Suspension creaks, tire noise-sounds that
wouldn’t play well in the movie. Even the stationary mikes were sensitive, at a
half mile away they could hear me idling! But the fun runs were riding at the
soundman at over 100mph in 4th, 5th, and 6th-then pulling away from him. Sounds
that when we ate dinner that night and listened to them in the headphones, made
you lean with the sound. The best one having the sound engineer burst out, “man
you’ll be in the theater, and hear that sound, and the audience will go OOOHHH!
And you’ll say ‘that was me!’” Did I mention I got paid for this? Let’s just
say the ride home was a bit boring, hear me on You tube, SALT, I’m at about 1:41
into the movie. And we all got it right, for the sound even matches the speed
of the bike she is riding. I never met Angelina, but I do own a Street Triple,
one of my favorite bikes, and one the cycle mags love too. But for that one
afternoon...
So through all the noise, there are sounds out there just waiting to be
heard and enjoyed. But life drowns them out, or we turn them off. Sounds we
don’t want to hear, sounds that can be annoying to the audience, sounds that
come in the form of a sentence, in a question that demands an answer. And
ignoring them, saying nothing is an answer. Two men hang on crosses, with Jesus
in between them. A short conversation between the three is recorded in the
gospels, one heard the message, one denied it. Just like us, sinners who need
forgiveness, some hear the spirit crying out to us “you need Jesus, you need
Jesus.” Some will answer the call and see heaven, some will deny the call
altogether, or flat deny Jesus and see hell. Death, all over in an instant, but
damage that will be permanent. What is your answer, what will your answer be?
Can you hear me now?
When God put on my heart years ago to go into ministry, He gave me Matthew
25, look it up. Read the part about feeding the hungry, visiting those in
prison...that one. And Matthew 25 Biker Ministries, or M25B was born. And as a
birthday gift, my son designed a simple logo based on the skull and crossbones,
similar to the logo on the back of the jackets on the BRMC in The Wild One. As
simple logo that speaks volumes, and share the gospel. The skull represents
Gologtha, the place of the skull, where Jesus was crucified. A cross on its
forehead, representing Jesus. The crossbones underneath are crosses, one for
each thief on the cross. One thief accepted Jesus, the closest to death he
would ever come. The other denied Jesus, the closest to heaven he would ever
come. Which do you associate with? You have just heard the gospel, simple
huh? We will all have to answer some day, which thief got it right? A simple
logo, yet it demands an answer. Can you hear me now?
The message of the gospel can be heard above and beyond any other sound out
there. You may have been hearing it, maybe even ignoring it, even knowing what
it was. Today is the day to pick up your cross, and follow Jesus. We are all
sinners who need a savior, and His last miracle was on the cross, giving life to
a condemned man. Don’t be deaf to Jesus, like I am to certain sounds. Get out
and get away, The Way, find a place to spend with Him, and listen. He didn’t
say “he who has a mouth let him speak, “ He told us “he who has an ear let him
hear.” We can control our mouth, we cannot control our hearing. His question
demands an answer, and saying nothing is saying no. In one split second I lost
my hearing. An unforeseen accident, not a big one, but a costly one. Not all
problems show, but Jesus sees them all. To some He gave hearing, to some
eyesight, to some the ability to walk. But to all He offers eternal life. That
still small voice is calling you, can you hear Him now? Jesus-the sweetest
sound you’ll ever hear. HUH? is not an answer.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com