Los Angeles in the sixties set the example of smog. Growing up 3500 miles
away we didn’t know how good we had it, the rains that populated New Jersey
skies helped keep the air clean. But on my first trip to LA, aka Smog Angeles
in 1975, I got sick. My eyes burned, throat got sore, and whereas growing up
where I did, you thought snow was grey, I found the air could be also. Where
once we were told “what you can’t see can’t kill you,” I found out like many
others what you can see can. And riding in a car with the AC on, while adding
to the pollution only eradicated the symptom, you were still dying a slow death
just from being there.
And on a motorcycle it was only worse. We talk of the wind in your face,
the fresh air, but many forget or weren’t there when LA meant smog, and lots of
it. Today due to cleaner burning engines, that emit much less, the air going
into your engine is dirtier than the air coming out. Clean air restrictions
haven’t hit motorcycles yet, which I am not for, the laws not the motorcycles.
But on the annual toy run to Children’s Hospital, I altered my views. If only
for the 30 mile ride. In a rider group of mostly Harleys, it wasn’t the loud
exhausts. Or the loud stereos set on distort, it was the smell of raw gas.
Unburned hydrocarbons coming from poorly tuned motorcycles. Now any bike can
emit all of the above, and with computer control you can control it better. But
the smell of all the raw unburned gas about made me sick, and I was about to
blame the riders, then remembered a Christmas special sign for Harley owners.
If you buy the pipe and air box kit, they will not charge you the extra $300 to
remap it on the computer. A simple 20-30 minute task of software. The final
step in the process, they don’t include in the process, I mean price, it is ala
cart. Which explains the raw fuel smell, running too rich, which aids in an
early rebuild. The extra gas runs down the cylinder walls, effectively removing
the oil there that is to lubricate it. It is like having a cavity removed, but
not having it refilled. Problem solved, another problem created. When will we
ever get smart enough to ask questions. While bragging about how loud pipes
save lives, they add to an early death for their ride. And the beat goes
on...
But yet some of the most wonderful smells can be found only from behind
handlebars. I must admit that while castor oil emits large amounts of
pollution, I love the smell of racing castor. Means high performance bikes are
near, a much different odor than the raw gas on Saturday. But I refer to a ride
on a spring day in the hills. Riding through orange groves, and the smell of
orange blossoms permeating the air. The speed dictating how fast the smell
embraces you, and you embrace it. A short ride later in the mountains, and the
smell of pine. Again refreshing, but a different attitude all together. Almost
intoxicating, and when at higher altitudes with thinner air, it can be. The
smell of hamburgers on the grill...ummm. It seems that all living things, us
included, give off odors, it is the fragrances we tend to remember, rather than
the odors. Then, even riding on more, down into the desert presents another
type of fragrance, the best time is spring when it is in bloom. Summer brings
the odor of overheating, never a good thing, no matter where or when. And while
riding in the midst of all the fragrant wonders, one small dose of offending air
can ruin it.
The next time you let the dog out in the morning, see how they smell the
air to see what went on last night. Their sense of smell, 400 times ours, gives
them insight to the surroundings. Where we scan the horizon, they sniff it.
Today at 39 degrees at 655am, you could smell how clean the air is after a rain
shower, with a trace of wood fires mixed in. After the rain the air is so clear
and clean, and refreshing. Highlighted by rides among the orange groves, or up
in the mountains in the forests. Rain cleans the air, and brings us a new
fragrance to the day. Jesus does the same thing for our lives. The stench of
death permeated our lives due to sin at one time, only we didn’t know it. Born
into the odor, we were used to it, until Jesus offered us life. Free from sin
and the odors that came with it. He cleaned out the sin, replacing it with love
and forgiveness, and soon the senses we had were heightened. We saw sin for
what it is, and how it lingers. We now saw life, and the fragrance found in
it. The orange smells, the pine odors all tell of life, smog smells of death.
Unburned hydrocarbons, and most of us were like that, never running or living up
to what God had created for us. It took the remapping of our lives to remove
the sin, to tune us up, and have us running the way we were designed. A true
born again experience, finding power and glory we didn’t know existed. If only
it could keep the rain out...
But God promises the rain will fall on the just and the unjust. The air is
cleaner, the plants are greener. The earth accepts it like grace, it
rejuvenates it, brings it back to life. If only those of us who ride could ever
see all the benefits, rather than an afternoon of clean up after riding in it.
But God’s grace is there for all. And like some who never get remapped, their
bikes never run as they could or should. With an illusion of more power, with
it being just that. It takes the creator of the bike to know how to tune it
best, just as we need to turn to our creator. Who can only be reached through
Jesus Christ. Who gives his spirit to guide us. Through the sunny days and
rainy ones. Where we learn to see all God has for us, not just what we want.
Or lust for.
Call it the parable of the unburned hydrocarbons. We all need a tune up in
life, and being in tune with the spirit brings that life. We may be running
rich, and burning out without knowing it. Spending to much for energy, but
never getting all the power. Or too lean, not enough fuel, too much air.
Either way you will burn out too early. The prefect is when Christ dials in
your life. When you are remapped to run in the spirit, being in perfect tune
with God. And it is included when you are saved. Loud pipes may save lives, but
need to be remapped. It should not be an option, shame on those who use it as a
profit center. Only Jesus saves, and with him you get it all. And on last
Saturday morning, while riding behind all those unburned hydrocarbons, I was
reminded. The fragrance of Jesus was infringed upon, but how would they know if
they weren’t told? We all want clean air, do we all want Jesus? How do you
tell someone they need to be remapped, and their bike too? Again the spirit,
and today many are answering the call. Clearing their lives of unburned
hydrocarbons,and finding the aroma of life in him. Like the fragrance after the
rain, he cleans us up, and leaves us pure. Maybe a ride through the orange
groves this morning, call it a church service for the ride, to clear out my
head. And sinuses. But yet the smell of racing castor tempts me....for now I
will bask in the fragrance of life in Christ. Where when it is well with my
soul, it is well with everything else. I can almost smell the pines as I head
up towards Palomar....and I can still smell the orange blossoms.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com