It was thinking about my old friend Brett that got me started, he the one
who invited me over to see his new motorcycle, a 1974 SR 500 Yamaha, and the
engine was already in the kitchen sink. His favorite story was about a man with
an old Dodge van, with three on the tree. It kept hanging up in second gear,
and he would have to reach through the grill which cut his hand to release it.
When he asked his friend to look at it, the man told him “park it across from my
shop and I can see it from there,” he hated Dodges. He received a call at five
minutes to traffic jam that it was fixed, and picking it up, made it as far as
the corner, where it stuck in second gear. Getting out and cursing his mechanic
friend, he noticed duct tape over the sharp edge, so he wouldn’t cut his hand.
His friend had fixed the problem, not solved it. “You didn’t cut your hand did
you?” was the response he got when asking the mechanic about his
van.....well...
Which got me thinking about another old friend in Connecticut, Phil. He
was the BMW motorcycle guru in the metro area, and through my friend Geno, we
met. He loved my R90S, and sometimes after fiddling with it, we would race
around the back roads, him chasing in his old BMW with his girlfriend in the
sidecar taking pictures. I thought I was pretty cool and fast, until someone
pointed out a three wheeler was keeping up with me....But what I most remember
about Phil was his winter car, an old Checker cab painted Krylon green. It
always overheated, so Phil had connected the heater hoses to the heater core, so
the heater was always on, great on frosty Connecticut winter days. But hell on
summer days, as I found out one day on a parts run with him. In this case it
was both the heat and the stupidity...I still wonder if sniffing all that
antifreeze was good for me.....
Then there was my old friend Rex, who was rewriting the Suzuki tech
manuals, correcting mistakes. His winter car was a 1972 Torino, nice car with
one exception, at 60 mph it shook like the wheels were coming off. Seems it
needed a u-joint, so Rex kept it below 60. On one January ride from Prescott to
Durango in a blizzard, crossing the Indian reservation every once in awhile he
hit 60 and it shook. I had visions of being found the next spring like the
Donner party, where two guys had been found walking near the car, and after
checking out the Ford and never going 60, not knowing the problem and a legacy
begins....
Another old friend was of the persuasion that the 750 Honda was the best
motorcycle ever made. His was already old when I met him, and it was always
breaking down, nicknamed “the bike you want to ride if you don’t want to get
where you’re going.” After the first meeting and being made fun of for using
the electric leg on my bike, we finally rode off. True to form within 30
minutes we were pulled over, which was repeated the next time we rode. I
finally came up with excuses not to ride with him, but when forced to, made sure
I led, so as not to get covered in oil. But our last ride together left the
Honda smoking and groaning, and him on the phone with another Honda junkie, who
owned two, so he always had one ready to ride. Never saw him again, but every
time I hear how the Honda 750 changed the world, I remember how it almost
changed mine.....
And finally a Harley friend who kept oil in his saddle bags, HD brand of
course, can’t use anything else. Later I learned the two quarts were enough
for a 500 mile day on an over nighter. He measured his rides in quarts per
day,while we were miles per day. I often wonder if his bags could hold three or
four quarts, would he have ridden farther.....all the time bragging how it used
no oil, didn’t smoke, and he never had to service it, just keep adding
oil....
Jesus tells us of the wise man who built his house upon the rock, and when
the storms came was safe. I wonder how many of us are built on that rock or on
shifting sands of religion? Lots of sand and shifty people out there. I
consider people I have known over the years, the one who is always calling for
prayer, who is the first one up after the service to see the pastor, but never
listens to the answer. Who when called to pray, is too busy and burdens you
with her problems. Whose radio presets are all on KWVE, yet never talks with
her kids, except via texting. And wonders what is their problem? I get
concerned about the guy who reads the Christian book of the week, and whose
library is filled with commentaries. Always seeking, just never finding, just
don’t ask him. I know Christian parents who leave the church to raise their
children in the Lord, then wonder why they wander, imitating their parents’
lifestyle. And of course that mighty church family, always blaming Satan,
always under attack when they don’t get their own way. A foot deep in pride, an
inch deep in Jesus. But Jesus tells us it is the person who puts his words into
practice, who just doesn’t hear them, that is built upon the rock, his rock of
salvation. It seems foundations matter, just look at the Leaning Tower of Pisa,
not built on a firm foundation, and it is tilted. How many of us can claim
Jesus is the foundation of our life, and not the things of the world, even if
they sound Christian and look Christian? How many of the poor remain that way
based on poor theology? When dealing with the Navajos, a friend once explained
their theology, whenever a new evangelist came tot own, they just added his
story to the existing ones, a long list of beliefs, based on no foundation. Yes
they believed in Jesus, but which one, which version, which Jesus? A strong LDS
area, where if you ain’t LDS you are nothing, they were both, LDS and nothing.
So beware...still tilting?
The Bible is not just a how to book, or just a history book. It is God
reaching out to you so we can be reunited with him despite our sin. From the
fourth word in Genesis, Jesus is there, to the end in Revelation. Yet we all
have our favorite scripture, like the man whose Bible pages are all highlighted
for future reference, not reverence. Whose life falls apart under a crisis,
ruining any witness he has about him and Jesus. Why would we want to be like
him? We used to call them carnal Christians, saved but still large and in
charge, with them sitting on the throne, Jesus at their feet, to provide their
every whim and want. Sadly they don’t last long, and when the body who they
need to nourish them turns on them, all of the church, us, suffers. Jesus even
warned them, “be gone, I never knew you.” So what is your Jesus built on? You
may be a pretty building and be sinking and not know it, making excuses for your
sins. You can have all the right characteristics, read all the right books,
attend the right church faithfully, but without Jesus these are just things, not
bad things, but just things, if Jesus is not your foundation. And you will be
tested....read your Bible about Joseph, Noah, Abram, Sampson, Jonah, Job, and
the twelve disciples. And Jesus, who when tested had his feet on holy ground,
his heavenly father. We are designed so we cannot save ourselves, or do it
alone. Either it’s Jesus or nothing....
Like the radio in Phil’s Checker. When I asked him why all the presets
were set to the same station, he said “it doesn’t matter, the radio doesn’t work
anyway....” Jesus accomplished what we cannot. What are your presets tuned
to? Built on obedience through trust, or on your own strength? Jesus, the
foundation that cannot be washed away, but in him our sins can be.
Which reminds me of........
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com