If you want to go anywhere north from San Diego, and the desert is not in
your plans, you will eventually come upon Los Angeles. 30 years ago San Diego
was distinguishable from Orange County as it was from LA, now it is one large
multi lane parking lot at times. No matter how you choose it, you encounter LA
traffic, but there are ways to avoid LA. When my friend Nick stopped by last
night, he is riding to San Francisco Saturday, and his first trip out of San
Diego, I told him I would put together a route to miss LA. He is leaving at 6
in the morning to get an early start, sadly most of our metro areas start the
same time, so here goes. Any time I go that way I try to miss LA.
For awhile we had commuter lanes that motorcycles were welcomed on, now too
many are becoming toll lanes, where those who used to travel them but don’t
anymore, are stuck in the traffic jam with the single car occupants, and sadly
us bike riders, too. No more free pass for us, and as we split traffic and look
at the sparsely populated toll lane, we are worse off than ever before. The HOV
lane that was supposed to free us up now requires pay, the same as a car or
truck. So for now we lane split....Unfortunately I only found this out last
Christmas on the 110 going into LA, where their multi-lane HOV lane suddenly
without warning goes from free to pay as you enter the city downtown, with
little or no chance to get off. $100 fine or toll bill, but they were nice
enough to cut it down to $20. Great folks at these toll roads....So I try to
miss LA whenever I can, too much traffic, too much toll, not enough lanes. It’s
on its way to Orange County and Riverside, wake up San Diego, or part of our
legacy will be “remember when we travelled the freeways for free?”
But as much as getting to LA can be expensive, parking can be worse. At a
local event at Qualcomm here last week, parking for it was $38! Valet parking
at the hospital yesterday was $5, plus 50 cents an hour, and no one gets in and
out on time. A scam to me, and insurance won’t cover it. My last trip to the
ER I went by ambulance, I live three miles from the hospital, and it was over
$1800! Maybe the tolls on the HOV lane aren’t so bad after all...and so I try
to miss LA, but also Orange, Riverside, and San Diego counties too. And the
ambulance. Don’t even get me going on San Francisco, where last time there a
few years ago it was $8/hour at a meter, and bikes couldn’t share a space! It
used to be you left your heart in San Francisco, now you leave your wallet
too!
When CSN&Y sang about “and we’ve got to get back to the garden,” or
their song Woodstock, they talked of escaping the city and its pressures, to get
back to the country where it all began. Before it became urban, then suburban,
and the malling of America took over. A physical place with emotional ties, but
also spiritual ones. For after the fall in the garden, after sin entered and we
were banished, we have been looking for that Nirvana that once existed. To the
hippies is was free love, to developers it was homes in the country turning it
into the suburbs, but to Christians it is heaven. Getting back to the way it
was before sin, and the only way back is Jesus. Where upon death we will arrive
face to face with God, how I long to walk with him as Adam did in the cool of
the afternoon. And there will be no temptation, as no sin can abide in heaven.
A far cry from here on earth, but maybe not as far as we think. Or want to
think. Woodstock went from a peaceful farm to a major city without police,
sanitation, or medical facilities overnight. It turned into the one thing that
everyone was trying to escape, and left a trail of disaster in its wake. The
music was great, but it rained, no it poured, and the mud and trash and limited
toilets left a mess that took the few volunteers months to clean up. I missed
Woodstock, but went to Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, and I can testify it was
horrible. People ruining yards, 20-30 miles of traffic jams, some just
abandoning their cars and walking. We escaped on our bikes barely, and missed
the show, but did see the Grateful Dead land in a helicopter where we were
sitting. At least I can say I saw them as they walked past and nodded to
us...
But as for the garden, nowhere on earth will it be found, for as soon as
you find that place, others will follow. If only it worked that way with
heaven. The short time we spend here on earth in no way compares to the
eternity in heaven or hell, and we get to choose. But we don’t want to choose
the only way to heaven, we want the things of God, we just don’t want God. So
many go to hell in rebellion, sad but even sadder are those who are stuck in
religion or churches where the gospel is not shared, pick a theme from being
good to good works to my parents are saved, they still miss heaven, because they
deny Jesus. Who still stands at the door knocking, if only they heard the
call. But while here on earth, we can have the things of heaven, as Jesus
promised it to be “on earth as it is in heaven,” in the Lord’s Prayer. Which we
immediately try to change for our own goods, and miss out. We come to Christ,
but deny the spirit he has left us to get by here on earth. We miss the love,
the joy, and the peace. We think peace is when everyone gets along, but true
peace is only found via the spirit in Jesus Christ. Don’t fall for the CO-EXIST
bumper sticker, what it really means is agree with them, and compromise your
values. Which leads to denying Jesus. God is love, more than a bumper sticker,
but to those that don’t believe.....
The Interstate Highway System we travel today was an outcry from President
Eisenhower, who after seeing how bad our infrastructure was, called for a better
system. God is interested in our infrastructure too, he calls it our souls, and
so provides a free way to heaven. No commuter lane, no lane splitting, no tolls
along the way. FREE, as in free. But to get in you must get on, and Jesus is
the only way. No GPS headings to lead you astray, although we need to beware of
false teachers, he made it one way. Not multiple choice, and no essay to
answer. The next time you are stuck in traffic and wonder “is there a better
way?” think of Christ, the only way. Avoid the tolls of religion and the
traffic jams of those who tell you there are many ways. There are many ways to
miss LA, don’t miss out on Jesus. And you can come to him where and just as you
are, sitting in traffic, or lane splitting. Where the spirit of the Lord is
there is liberty, a free pass to heaven, and all the benefits now. I miss LA
whenever I can, when I die I am glad I will not miss heaven. I made the right
choice, I’m going back to the garden. Where I will walk with God, and I won’t
need a commuter lane when I get there.
Something and someone to ponder as you sit in traffic....so I miss LA, what
do you do?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com