Looking back, my parents never liked motorcycles. And one event in my life
probably justified that belief more than others. I had always worked, from age
12 with a paper route, through high school, and then in college, before I
dropped out. So I had saved money, I wanted to have something to show for all
my work, which resulted in motorcycles. And 3 of my first 4 were BMW’s, the
first two both totaled, I was hit both times in Florida, and my next one was a
1974 R90S, all bought new. I had delivered a lot of The Star ledger! But when
it came time to take a month off from work for my cross country trip from New
Jersey to California, I had a little help from my friends putting my R90S in my
bedroom...up a flight of stairs on the second floor! Much harder than it
sounds, and even harder to get down, their house was filled with the aroma of
Sunoco 260 filling its tank, and of the one time I started it inside...I just
had to hear how it sounded. But for a period of two months in the summer of
1975 my parents could claim they had a BMW in the bedroom. A claim I am sure
they never told anyone, but that really happened. Today we talk of barn finds,
finding vehicles hidden away in barns or sheds, but you never hear of finding
them in a bedroom. Or storing them in one. But it set a precedent, for over
the years I have been impressed when others brought their motorcycles into the
house, Por Favor had a TM 250 in his living room, and an RD350 in the
closet-they both ran, and Pete and Benjie used to keep their Harleys in their
apartment, and Brett and I parked our bikes in our motel room one year at Laguna
Seca, so maybe it isn’t as unique an event as I thought. But I will never
forget the steps getting it up, then wondering how I would get it down...with a
lotta help from my friends.
My first three houses were ranch style, after being raised in two houses
with second stories. Even my grandparent’s houses had steps, so it was
inevitable that my house would have them too. And living in one with four
levels, I have climbed more steps in my days, usually when I forget what I need
when I get to the garage from our bedroom on the top floor. 21 steps, I know
them all by heart, and will probably go up and own them a dozen times today. So
I have even gone to the point of having reading glasses on each floor, just in
case, as each floor has a bathroom. Think of them as a library on every
floor....all motorcycles still live in the garage. On the first floor, no steps
to the street. But it seems my life is filled with stairways, even visiting
Dave in jail the other day, the waiting room on the second floor is up by
elevator, but you must walk down stairs to get the elevator to inmate visiting.
I was so amazed at the woman visiting her husband in her wheel chair, I forgot
to ask how she got there. Did she have to use the stairs?
And so stairs are a part of everyday life. Even sung about in song, by Led
Zeppelin in Stairway to Heaven. One of the all time greatest songs since 1971,
it over the years has still not yet divulged its true meaning to us. Even the
writers, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant won’t tell....or can’t due to the influence
of drugs, but stairways to heaven even proceed them. And are not new to God, in
fact over 5000 years ago He revealed the original stairway to heaven to Jacob.
In Genesis 28 we are told of Jacob’s ladder, where God showed Jacob angels going
up and down from heaven to earth. But the word in Hebrew is “sulam,” meaning
stairway. Not a ladder in the modern sense of the word, but a stairway, the
original stairway to heaven. So wide, think if all the 6 billion plus of us
have a guardian angel sent from God, then returning back to report, that is one
busy stairway. A heavenly escalator beyond description. And in use now for
over 6000 years, it has served billions, and McDonalds thinks it has served
billions! And it exists today, and will into the future, as it is mentioned in
both the Old Testament, and the New. In the past, and in the future! Bringing
not only angels, but Jesus Christ, the original barn find, returning to earth
for His church. We are told how Jesus tells His disciples how “He saw heaven
open, and the angels of God descending upon the Son of Man.” Reinforcing God’s
promise to Jacob in Genesis about His ever presence, His protection, His promise
of taking him home, and of never leaving us. Sounds like Jesus to me, I will
never leave you nor forsake you....truly God is in control.
But He still leaves the choice up to us. An open invitation to climb
Jacob’s staircase to heaven, or follow the footsteps to hell. We are all on the
path, and only Jesus offers the way and the direction. He is the ladder, the
way to heaven that God showed to Jacob, as the word it, used to describe it, in
Hebrew can also mean He. He as in God, as in Jesus, as in the Holy Spirit.
Even before that night in Bethlehem, one night thousands of years earlier in the
same town God was affirming His promise of a way to heaven. Of a way out of
this world. Today many will refer to the man upstairs, when referring to God.
But God is not only what He is, but who He is. And we get to call Him by His
first name, Jesus. Make it personal with Him today, get to know Him. He knows
your name, do you know His?
Many have heard of the car found in the barn, and even if it is an urban
legend will believe. I really had a BMW in my bedroom, but found out it really
belonged out on the street. Which was better for me than sleeping in the garage
in its room. Up the stairs was hard, down again was harder. Today many are
falling down those stairs into hell, when it can be easier to climb them to
heaven. And unlike the Led Zep version, you cannot buy it. It is paid for, a
free offer, and a free ride. You couldn’t afford it, for all that glitters is
not gold. So as some try to buy a stairway to heaven, God sent a person to show
us the way, to be the way. And like Huey Lewis and the News sung in Jacob’s
Ladder, “step by step, one by one...” take that walk with God up Jacob’s ladder
today. A staircase of grand dimensions, with stairs wider than can be
imagined. At the end of a straight and narrow path. But it takes faith, and
God has given each of us enough of it to choose Him. But it is still our
choice. God has prepared a mansion with many rooms for us, Jesus tells us it is
so. I wonder what will be at the top of the stairs in heaven for me? All I
know is that the trip will be easier than pushing 450 pounds of motor cycle up
them. And the reward will be greater. And if there happens to be a BMW when I
get there, there will also be room to ride it. Now that’s a bedroom I can learn
to live in.
My dream home for now is like Steve McQueen’s Santa Paula Airport hangar.
Cars, bikes, beds, and living all in one cool room. A big room for all our
bikes, and friends to gather. But today we will have to be content with our
garages, and the steps to them. Make your next step Jesus, and insure a
heavenly room with room to ride in. You’ve heard the songs, read the book,
bought the album, and seen the posters. Get ready for the trip of your life. A
highway to hell or a stairway to heaven? There’s still time to change the road
you’re on.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com