Dependence Day

Independence Day has been popularly known as The 4th of July, the date it always falls on.  By definition that is correct, but how many Independence Day sales do you see?  To me I see mostly the 4th, and it is probably entered into our lexicon as such.  What are your plans for the 4th?  But July 4th was the day the 13 colonies, not yet the US of A signed the Declaration of Independence, maybe it should be Declaration Day.  A day when men of vision and courage declared their independence from Britain, the land that later would bring us Norton’s BSA’s, and Triumphs.  Also MG’s, Jaguars, and Land Rovers.  But it was not the motor trade they wanted to be set free from, that was some 150 years to come, but tyranny under a King some 3 time zones away, who had never set ground on this new land, yet imposed power over them.  And in doing so they declared that all men were created equal, acknowledging their was a creator.  And that they would be free to pursue happiness without laws to hinder them.  They were true rebels in a strange land, traitors to the Crown, and stood to lose everything they had worked for.  John Hancock even signing so large the king could see his signature without his bifocals.  They were brave, driven, and had a sense of purpose few have had, or ever would have.  They had vision.  They risked all, but had all to gain.  And we stand today in awe of them, and thankful.

But to most it is only the 4th, a 3 day weekend, or an extra day off.  Maybe that is why I like the Hollister Independence Day Rally, which coincides with the 4th, but is based on freedom rather than the date.  And truly only those who ride, who get it enjoy true freedom.  The wind in our faces, no doors and windshields to hide behind, and no climate controlled environment.  Get cold, put on a jacket.  Get warm again, take it off.  But we have the freedom to choose, and only in freedom do you have that freedom to choose.  Two wheels or four.  Right or wrong, you either reap the rewards, or pay the penalty.  And although there may be outside influences, we still get to choose in the US of A today. 

But we find another independence day when we come to Christ.  We are set free from our sin, we find liberty in his love, in the spirit.  But Jesus Christ also demands a decision, and his love is not forced on anyone.  We can choose him and choose life, or deny him and choose death.  True love demands a choice, and those who have chosen Christ know that. But when we come to him, we also run into the dichotomy of dependence.  Free to choose and set free, but free to choose and also be dependent on him.  And without the spirit’s guiding it can be confusing.  A few years back at a biker rally a young girl came up and saw my Christian shirt.  She wanted to know where I went to church and what they believed.  She was looking, but not prepared for my answer.  She had gotten church rhetoric, I offered her a choice.  I told her what I believed, or rather who I believed in.  I told her “I can drink, do drugs, chase women, and cheat on my wife if I like.  But I choose not to, because I found freedom in Jesus Christ, who guides me by his love via his spirit.  Religion has rules, I have Jesus, and there is a difference.”  Her answer was “I want to go to a church like that.”  Freedom of choice, to follow or to lead, and I choose to follow.  Because Jesus is the great shepherd, and I need to be led.  I easily can go astray, without Jesus it is a given, but in Christ when spirit led, I am guided, and able to make a better choices.  And forgiven when I fail.

Psalm 23, the official Psalm of funerals everywhere, should be read and lived long before death.  Because it truly offers life in Christ.  “I shall not want...” says David, and we want a lot.  But in it we are offered two choices, follow Jesus and don’t want, follow myself and want.  And the evidence is obvious, if in want you are not following Jesus.  Follow your career and want, not following Christ.  If education is our answer, we are disillusioned and lost.  If we worship our rides, we are wondering rather than wandering, hopelessly seeking direction.  If another person is our shepherd, we lose direction and get disappointed.  Drugs and alcohol, wasted.  Lust for what we don’t have, we are chasing our tails, like a little kitten, who finally falls over exhausted.  Like chasing your shadow, you can come close, but it will always avoid you. 

But to follow Christ we must be dependent on him, we need to have a Dependence Day in him, when we realize we are like sheep, the dumbest animals on earth, and we cannot make it alone.  We need a savior, and also a master to guide us, to provide for us.  To never leave us or forsake us.  To never take a 3 day weekend when we need him.  We need to be humble in Christ before we become humiliated in the world, we must admit we need a shepherd to lead us, or we will go astray.  And when I admit that Jesus is my savior, I find the truth in David’s words, “I shall not want.”

Babies cry because they want, they just don’t know what.  Or is it us who cannot understand the whining and crying?  Before the world sticks a bottle in your mouth to shut you up, come to Jesus.  You will find like I do I really don’t know what I need, yet everyone will give me advice.  I don’t need opinions, I need truth, and Jesus is truth.  A shepherd’s job is to protect his flock, who is shepherding you?

So celebrate your independence in Christ by becoming dependent on him.  Celebrate Dependence by realizing you are a sheep that has gone astray, and all your talents, good looks, money and connections will not make it for you.  You need the Great Shepherd, who you can know by name.  For like sheep we have all gone astray...and it is our choice.  Find freedom in Christ, not more rules like in religion.  Be who you are molded in him, not molded or bound by legalistic rhetoric.  When you become dependent on Jesus, and are free from want, you experience a true independence no contract or agreement can offer.  The signers of the D of I offered us this freedom 200+ years ago, Jesus offered true freedom, and independence through dependence 2000 years ago.  Let me choose, and I choose to be free from want.  All I want is Jesus.  Now that’s freedom.  And you believe....you know you could still be riding on the wrong side of the road.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

well, isn't that special...

Come to think of it, we all like to think we are special.  And marketers know how easily swayed we are by that simple buzz word.  As long ago as being a kid, reading MAD magazine, they suckered me a few extra times per year with specials.  Nothing new, just some old articles repackaged, they even admitted to it in their satirical way.  But today those specials are worth more to collectors.  Which brings up the next buzz word, collectible.  When my sons were growing up, comics were the rage, and special editions, that word again would be coupled with collectible, and they bought them.  Some never read, put in plastic slip cases, and many an argument ensued over why they paid more for them.  Limited editions,“they only printed 5 million...” and today they are still worth the same, mostly, the companies collecting big on our lust to buy them.  Harley Davidson, that marketing genius who builds motorcycles on the side, made every 2003 a “100th Anniversary Edition,” only coming in two colors.  And with over 200,000 of them,people paid big prices to say they had one.  Same product as last year....and the next.  The Motor Company again did it in 2013, but with all colors, you just paid more for the badge.  The Mustang turns 50 this year, more special editions, and 50 years form now you will look smart for paying extra and buying one.  I’ll be over 100 by then, isn’t that special?

Limited Editions are also a tag used to draw us in.  Limit the production to a certain number, and make it sound important.  “1 of 10,000,000” and someone will step up and pay for it.  And like in collector cars, limited production, usually read no initial demand, sparks higher prices at auction.  Pace Car Editions adorned with lettering will bring more money, usually with a few miles because few wanted to drive around looking like a fool.  “Hey honey, look at the fool in that cool car.  Too bad it has all the writing on it..” giggling.  Add a dash badge or two, number the product, 1 of... and someone will pay more.  And then there are the Special Edition celebrity models.  Add Shelby to a loser car, add stripes, his signature on the dash and you have a best seller.  Just about any famous race team will add money to the asking price, NIckey, Yenko, or Tacsa, yet Chrysler bombed a few years ago with a Sinatra Edition.  Soon to be collectible, few in numbers, see above.  Signed copies of books, baseball cards, programs, and comics all advertise increased value.  At least until you try to sell one in my case.  Original is another over used ad word, things are only original once.  How many car ads have you seen with “100% original except for paint, interior, motor, and top.”  At least they may have used original replacement parts. And so we live in a buyer beware world, our reach exceeding our grasp, repeating the mantra “you didn’t pay too much, you just bought too soon,” when we confront our wives with our latest investment.  At least until the next special deal comes along...and we are reminded “well isn’t that special...”  It must be true, I saw it on TV.

I think we have all been a victim, or proposed victim of this strategy.  Nothing new, as Jesus dealt with this type 2000 years ago.  The moneychangers he called them, and he chased them out, not for selling the goods, but for using his name and his Father’s name as the selling point.  Buying and selling is not a new concept, nor is trading on the name of God.  In his autobiography, Wolfman Jack told how the religious programs would be charged more for air time, but take in many more dollars than any one else.  Promising miracles via water, towels, special edition Bibles, all as a free gift for your donation, we see begging within the church alive and well today.  But we never see Jesus begging, nor asking for money.  He even told his disciples to only take with them what they have, he would supply.  A scriptural concept carefully overlooked by TV evangelists today.  How many planes does Kenneth Copeland need to visit the poor in?  And I can attest to the strength and integrity of God, when I decided to get into ministry, the established ones told me I would need a donor base.  When praying God showed me different, “if you ask for it it is not a gift.  And I like to give good gifts.”  And he has, does, and will continue too.  For a relationship is based on trust, and trusting God will never let you down.  Let all men be liars, and God will always be God.  Which has put me at odds with professional fund raisers within the church.  I have been told I will never make it, never have a suitable income, or be successful.  Isn’t that special?  So why would I ask men who have limited supplies when I can ask God who will supply all things I need in Christ Jesus?  And no, there is no ministry discount....

For salvation comes with a price.  A price we could never pay, so God sent Jesus.  His unique, begotten, special son.  None other like him, 1 of 1.  No specials on salvation, it is offered to all.  No discounts, Jesus paid full price.  And in him you will become special, collectible.  No tag lines, no holy water, no prayer cloth if you order now.  You get the original, the only one.  And forever.  Yet many fall for the spirit of anti-Christ, the instead of Christ offer, wanting it all here, but neglecting having it all later in heaven.  There is no substitute for Jesus, he is the only way.  Something, someone to consider if you haven’t met him yet.  You see he backs up his claims with an empty grave, he is resurrected just like he said he would.  All other gods or religious figures fill theirs.  But how many are willing to buy an empty grave? 

So I stay away from Christian advertised business.  I avoid that little fish in the corner of the ad.  I want the best when I need something fixed, not just a “trust me because I am a Christian” come on.  Plus it gets me out in the world, where the lost are, where the action is.  Where Jesus told us to go.....You may be the only Bible your washer repairman ever reads while he fixes your wash cycle.  Isn’t that special?  Without God it isn’t, with him all things are possible.  Putting God’s name on it doesn’t make it special, only Jesus in your heart is.  Make the switch today, trust him with your life, and find real value.  And know that if you were the only sinner he still would have died for you!  Now that’s special, and only Jesus is that special.  And still at prices you can afford.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot

fail the test, pass the course

Bluto in Animal House, a movie that emulates my college career, states “7 years of college down the drain,” when the Delta House is forced to close.  We each went to college for a different reason, the main one being to get a degree, even if it took 7 years.  Some went to avoid the draft, some went to not have to go out on their own, their parents kept supporting them.  I’m not really sure why I went except it was the thing to do after graduation.  But we never really know why...until after, and not necessarily graduation.  After being a three strike student, three times a freshman then out, and losing interest, I had a boss at Coca Cola explain college is supposed to teach you how to find the answer.  While many study for an exam, read cram at the last minute, then forget it all, some never get that far.  College was that 7 year odyssey before adulthood, and going to work for their father.  Some went to hair school, some night school, some got a job with a trade, but in all cases we unwittingly lived the scripture “study to find yourself approved.”

I took a class at the University of New Mexico titled “the history of Christianity,” and being a young Christian hoped to enlighten my walk with God.  So did some other believers, and a friend who was a pastor, but it seemed the more saved, the harder the course.  Taught by a Mormon, whose religion doesn’t believe in he deity of Jesus Christ, and a Jesuit Catholic who believes the Pope is the final authority on all things holy, my mind got filled with heresy, and the Bible was rarely referred to.  What the course really was was the history of the church, and it was miserable, as the church’s biography is not very good.  Sadly many confuse the church with God, no wonder so many reject Jesus.  But I knew the truth...only my teacher’s didn’t.  And an interesting thing happened to all who knew Christ....

It was the final exam, and the Blue books were passed out.  The final was, in fact the only test we had all semester was simple.  “Name three events in the history of Christianity that changed the world?”  My mind was racing, my heart confident as I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.  I detailed scripturally the three most important, the birth of Jesus, his death on the cross, and his resurrection.  A+ here I come, the heart and soul of Christianity, if not the spirit.  And boy was I in for a surprise....

I had neglected to remember who my teachers were, the mislabeling of the course, and what the curriculum was about.  Christianity to them wasn’t about Jesus, and without Christ in Christianity, you had insanity.  I got a D+!  Study to find yourself approved?  Just not in college!  And so I argued, in vain.  Between the Jesuit and Mormon they wanted 3 important events in church history.  Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses on the door.  Joseph Smith receiving the revelation from the angel Moroni.  The history of the Popes.  But where was Jesus?  Found in the Bible, just not in any textbook for the course.  And  found that those of us who were saved did poorly, with the exception of the pastor, who got an A.  He answered the questions asked, his inspiration not from God as I learned later.  And I left disillusioned by the experience, but even though I failed the exam, I would pass the course, and no amount of studying world get me into heaven.  I found solace in the fact it takes a relationship with Jesus Christ, not religion to be saved.  That I may fail the test, but he will someday greet me with “well done my good and faithful servant.”  In heaven.  My name found in the book of life, not on any dean’s list.  And so I learned a lot that semester, not about Christianity, but about Jesus.  He had warned many will come in my name, but to separate the goats from the sheep.  To be as wise as a serpent, but gentle as a lamb.  To test the spirit to see if they truly are of God....and realized before I was even told, I had learned how to find the answer, and it was Jesus.  I could know everything, and get an A, but still fail at life without him.  I had learned to stay away from fools, because you will not find knowledge on their lips.  That Jesus Christ is as far from religion as you can get, and is the way, the truth, and the life.  I found out religion was binding, and separating at the same time, while Jesus was unifying in the spirit.  That I had made the right connection when I became a believer, and no amount of swaying from the truth will lead me astray.  Wrong beliefs are just that, wrong.  And even though I got a D+, I still passed.

Salvation is a pass/fail course.  Saved you go to heaven, lost you go to hell.  We are told to study to find ourselves approved, but not to be saved.  That takes Jesus, and the smartest man without him is still lost.  God doesn’t grade on the curve, he grades at the cross.  Where all victories were won, and sin defeated.  Where the right answer to life was hung, then resurrected, promising us the same if we only believe.  So I read my Bible not to learn as some do.  Or to be found approved, but to get to know God personally.  To confirm what his spirit ahs shown me.  To remind me that no matter how difficult the course, we win in the end.  There will be battles won and lost, but only Jesus saves.  The church won’t and cannot save you, so don’t be confused.  We are the church, we cannot save ourselves.  We need Jesus, and without Jesus there is no Christianity.  Only insanity.  Some pass the test only to fail the course of life.  Take a moment to see what course you are taking?

And so it went, and so it still goes.  Jesus is still the only way to the Father.  No religion can or will save you.  Do not be misled by any other offer other than from Jesus Christ himself.  40 years later I still know Christ as my savior, how many pass the test only to fail the course of life?  Take an open book test today with Jesus, and when you know the answer to life is someone rather than something, salvation is your passing grade, to heaven.  A test you cannot cram for, and only a one word answer to remember, Jesus. 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the loneliness of the long distance rider

We stopped at a rest stop north of Oceanside on our way home yesterday and a well worn Triumph Explorer parked next to me.  The rider was in full on riding suit for the 100 degree weather, I was hot in t shirt, I can only imagine his heat and pain.  While he was getting a drink, I walked around his bike to see where he was from, California plate, with personalized message, “RYDZFAR” and his plate frame stating he rode Iron Butts.  It was definitely set up for these hard core mile junkies, and when we talked his words emphasized it.  While he had bags, GPS, auxiliary lights, and a custom seat, I looked at the 1050 Tiger I was on, and reflected on our two different riding styles.  I have done 1000 miles days, coast to coast in under 70 hours and was set up like I was now for a long weekend.  With Theresa on the back.  And I wondered if anyone outside of the Iron Butt guys could appreciate his ride, and his riding.  Or if he even got it.  Was it fun riding against the clock like some interstate commuter?  His bike was filthy, needed some love, but he looked the same.  I wondered if the loneliness of riding long distances alone had done him in?  He seemed more interested in himself than me, I was at least hoping a fellow Triumph rider would talk about Triumphs.  But he was set on a destination, and this stop was probably preplanned as was the time allowed to stop.  Then off for more miles, all by the clock.  His ride had become an obsession, I hope I never ride that way.  I have come close, but I have nothing to prove to myself or anyone else any more.  I have done the fast, the quick, and the long.  Now I just want to ride, no set destinations or time limits, just time zones.  I want to enjoy the ride, but I can relate as at one time I had goals to reach, rides to prove myself, and friends to impress.  Now I just want to ride...

And when the ride is the thing, you enjoy it differently than if in some competition, even if it only with yourself.  Riding is very personal, different to everyone, some cruise, some tour, some are speed junkies, some carry plush animals, some ride alone.  Some need an American V-twin, some need an inline 4.  Some need all the accessories, some travel light.  And in myself I find a bit of each, personalized after many years of riding.   And still looking forward to the next ride, and enjoying the one I am on.  I was planning our next trip while lane splitting in LA yesterday, riding the hills above Sonora.  Farm roads, less travelled, curves, no traffic, and scraping pegs, with no schedule.  Stopping along the way when we see something, or grabbing a Tootsie Roll just to visit.  I have found a different freedom in riding than my “RYDZFAR” friend, memories of people, roads, meals, other bikes, and not based on a timeline, but on a life line.

But I can appreciate minutes with another biker when riding alone.  Making the conversation count, as I want get back in the saddle.  A destination awaits, and the moment is not it.  Until later I realized it was.  So I have changed my riding time tables to adjust.  300 mile days instead of 500 mile days, sleeping in, never riding in the dark, and seeing more along the way.  Watching sunsets instead of riding into them, but knowing if I had to I can still do 500-600 miles.  But now time doesn’t dictate the ride, I dictate it.  And at the San Luis Obispo old bike meet we attended, I see many who get it like I do.  An older crowd, mostly men, who rode before Jap bikes took over.  Who rode, wrenched, and spent extra time with their machines.  It was personal to them, not just a form of transportation.  Bikes that had been loved and maintained, and memories many don’t have any more.  MY “RYDZFAR” friend would never fit in, he spent too much time riding never knowing it was about the road and machine, not the clock and the road.  He missed out on bench racing while he was riding, his GPS his companion.  His bike showed little affection offered to it, and would be replaced when it prematurely wore out.  I saw in him the loneliness of the long distance rider, and how without a motorcyclist, they are just motorcycles.  It takes people and roads to build memories, he had the road, but not the people.  If his bike could talk, I wonder what it would have to say?  How many 15 minute bench racing sessions with other riders like himself?  How many nights of too little sleep, finding himself exhausted, but not tired, spurred on by the next days marathon.  Races to a destination, then start all over again.  Seeing America, but never seeing Americans.  I have been both types, and my rides reflect it.  But I will always be a motorcyclist, just waiting for the next road to ride.  No time, no distance requirements, isn’t that the oppression we seek to escape from when we ride?  Rules and regulations....forget about them and let’s ride.  Lunch one time zone, dinner another, but at our pace.  With no one to impress, only to please ourselves.  It’s time we lived that way off of our bikes too.

A friend of mine is busy raising his family, and very involved at church.  He attends Sunday, men’s fellowship Tuesday, one night out for a college Bible class, Wednesday night service, Saturday morning men’s breakfast, and little time with his family.  And he is getting burnt out, his family suffers, and yet he succumbs to the church’s demands on how to be a better Christian.  I have been there, and like riding each relationship with Jesus is personal.  As is each ride.  It is when the external pressures interfere with the ride we stop enjoying it.  Jesus never espoused such a life style, he gave us freedom in the spirit.  No rules but grace to live up to, or better yet in.  We all have hidden sins, and willful ones that we hide, but God sees them and has us deal with them.  Our decision once they are pointed out, and he does it confidentially so as not to hurt us, but to correct us and point us in the way we should go.  If your activities are more important than God, if your family suffers because of the draw of the church, be warned.  Many have succumbed to what is expected of them, only to miss out on God’s plan for them.  Seek him first as he desires us to do, then follow him and enjoy life.  Yet many suffer over the burden of requirements that are not God imposed.  That is religion, found anywhere two or more gather, even riders.  But Jesus tells us whenever two or three gather he is among them, and we can enjoy the freedom he has. 

He wants us to be confident in him, not ourselves. Or our church, motorcycle or checkbook.  Or line of credit.  Self confidence is presumption and based on us.  If we do not depend on God it is sin, and sin harms our faith.  Whatever is not of faith is sin.  So let us realize that without Christ we cannot do anything, and our life is just one long ride between appointments.  Burning miles, tanks of gas, and never having true fellowship with God.  So ask God to help you with your schedule, you priorities, your next ride, and with your family.  See them as he does, and watch as your life changes.  Your wife needs you, now not later.  You will find yourself under God’s influence rather than a church imposed schedule, and be a better church person.  Led by the spirit, not the invitations in the bulletin.  When Jesus is first, everything is second.  And you enjoy the relationship with him more, because he is the riding force behind it.  So what drives you?

If not Jesus, stop now and reconsider.  Write down all things important to you as they come to mind.  Then ask God to prioritize them for you.  Suddenly you have more time, more rides,and more Jesus.  All benefit from your choice to follow the spirit.  Just ask your wife and kids.  They probably already know...have you been listening?   Listen to the spirit, backed up by the word.  Live life in Christ, not by the accomplishments.  Let him expose the weaknesses and deal with them.  And start enjoying the ride of your life more.  Riding more and enjoying it less?  Jesus is the answer.  Tired of riding alone?  Take him along.  Too much schedule and not enough time?  Let him be your guide.  Miss your family, abide in the vine of Jesus Christ.  Where you find life, forgiveness, and love.  And time to share it with those you love.  It all starts with Jesus, just a lesson he reminded me of at a rest stop.  A rest stop!  I wonder, no couldn’t be a coincidence could it?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

that's where we used to play when growing up

A wise sage once wrote “you can never go back home,” but you can visit.  After living in 6 states, owning houses in three, and where I grew up on the other coast, I don’t want to go back home.  But I do like to visit, if only when passing through.  When Christopher comes back from Spain, even though gone for a few months, he notices differences in Escondido.  To us in our daily lives we don’t notice the changes, but when we are away and return our before and after pictures change.  When driving in the Easton area of Pennsylvania, I can remember Bethlehem Steel buildings from when I was young, today, or on my last visit three years ago they are old and abandoned, and have been for decades.  Yet somehow when I stop and listen, you can hear the past, and see life where there is now debris.  Across the old bridge Jimmy’s Hot Dog Stand used to sit in a round walk up, now he is in a strip mall in Easton across the river.  And a battle raged a few years ago when someone took over his old building, and renamed it, close but not Jimmy’s, and has misled a new generation.  One who doesn’t remember the past or truth, and is misled.  Has history been rewritten or just forgotten?

Going back to Scotch Plains I see the Sweet Shop now sells orthopedic equipment, but Tiffany Drugs is still next store, for 60 years now.  No more “don’t lean your bikes against the windows...”  as we often heard.  Crestwood Cupboard is gone, now a Russian owned gas station is there.  How often we walked over the bridge and counted the cars on the trains going there.  The Corner Store in Fanwood is gone, now sells realty.  Many years back it moved the middle of the block, and renamed “The Corner Store in the Middle of the Block,” but wasn’t the same.  Not without Dave standing behind the counter blowing smoke from his stogie, trying to catch kids lifting candy.  The Shell station once sold Sunoco, the Dean Oil station now sells BP, Pierkarski’s Texaco is now a Dunkin’ Donuts, and Korvette’s is no longer at the Blue Star Shopping Center.  An outdoor shopping center where your parents could drop you off all day and you could shop even if you had no money.  Korvettes had the world’s largest record department, a huge toy area, and SS Kresges, now K Mart was a few stores down.  We had older friends who worked at Thom McAn selling shoes in high school, Eddie Tucker’s mom worked at Larkey’s, a men’s store.  All gone now, as discount houses, 99 cent stores replaced them, and it is run down and old.  But not in my memory..

La Grande Park where we played ball all summer now has gates to keep kids out when closed.  No more Thursday night summer movies, or concerts.  The old clubhouse is now modern, I wonder if it still smells of burlap and baseball after a summer rain?  Going by I remember hitting my first home run over the fence, and many after.  But telling my sons when along they don’t see what I do or did.  “That’s where we used to play when growing up..” and I can relate to them too, as when driving in downtown Bangor, my Dad used to tell me the same thing.  Many visits to Bray’s News Stand that sold anything from papers to toys, Auntie Bray was like one of the family.  When movies were 50 cents, I remember the Bangor Movie House was still 35 cents.  And free movies in the summer at the park next to the cemetery.  Where I once spent the night in the mausoleum, now closed and locked.  Maybe the dead are finally resting. 

Driving up Algonquin Drive I can remember Nutty Kenny living next to Scotty, Big Kenny living next to the Farleys, and Ricky near us.  Where we used to walk in the woods at the end of the street is now paved and has lights.  How many imaginary monsters we used to look for when sleeping out have fled from there but still remain as they did 50 years ago to us?  Our old high school has gone through another facelift, and the hedges where we borrowed every other ones one night for Lenny’s new home are now gone, a parking lot.  Shackamaxon Elementary School went private for awhile, then became a rehab center.  No more school bells announcing the end of recess...no more running in the halls.  La Grande School is a care facility, still majestic on the hill, and Terrill Jr. High is now a Middle School. 

So I find when I go back, every few years more has changed than I remember.  And mostly I ride or walk the streets alone in my memories, as Theresa and the boys get bored of hearing my old stories.  But as much as the old places have changed, and are changing, so have I and so do I continue to change.  But my values are the same, and even more deeply in bedded  deep in my memory vault.  Lessons learned from teachers still haunt me today about running in the hall, washing your hands after using the bathroom, and waiting for the bell until you go to lunch.  Anxiously awaiting the first day the park opened, and choosing new teams for the summer.  Maybe one last trip to the Sweet Shop before candy went from 5 to 6 cents, causing an uproar in our 10 cent budget.  One more “$2 please” at the Sunoco, full service only in Jersey.  And as I met with Fu yesterday, explaining at my age I have more years to look back on than years to look ahead. 

We talked last night that if ever by Jimmy’s I would have a hot dog, breaking my post surgery diet.  And realized I would feel just as bad if I did as if I didn’t.  But one thing that hasn’t changed for me is Jesus Christ in my life.  I was blessed to have great teaching when first saved, and still read Ray Stedman today, and his teachings of 2 Corinthians.  Being told we were cracked pots, but that God’s light could be seen through the cracks, as we are his light.  That even though after a great day, you still may have a flat tire the next morning.  And that God didn’t abandon you, but allowed it so you would turn to him.  It seems that the more I change, that God stays the same.  Never changing, his love for me still more than I can even imagine, and how Jesus accepted me for who I was, seeing potential and saving me.  His love being best described as unqualified acceptance, which I need to work on, like the lady in the SUV on her cell her cuts me off.  People who don’t like motorcycles, family who rather have a root canal than see me, and in all situations be reminded how much Jesus gave to save me.  Can I at least be a little more considerate?  Good and kind? 

I find I give thanks to the Lord in words and even in deeds, but my thoughts and attitudes still need some work.  I am still competitive, and want to win, but now not at all costs.  Victory is sweeter in Jesus, and has a whole new meaning.  My parent’s generation is almost gone, and I don’t want to be known as some old fool.  Being a young fool should have been enough.  I desire to be known as a man of God, but to be in the world rather than separated from it.  I want to be where the action is, and not just spectate.  I want to apply God’s love to others, not just study about it.  I want to be a doer, not just a sayer.  My life reflecting what I learned in church, but practiced in the world.  I want to be the same, to have the same values in church as I do out.  How many dare pray that with any sincerity?  Remember that the next Sunday after church at the grocery store....

Jesus has given me many great memories, my mind filled with a vault of 35mm memories.  And with many of my friends retiring we look back at careers, but I look back at my life.  And for 40 years Christ has been my life.  And now with more time in retirement, I want to get out and share him even more.  I cannot go back, but I can look ahead, and heaven is one day closer than yesterday, to all of us.  I have come along way from $2 fill ups, my first Honda, and my paper route.  I haven’t been to the movies in 38 years, my kids still think I grew up in a back and white world.  I may have, but when Jesus entered it I saw colors I never knew existed, and life I didn’t know I didn’t have.  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures for ever.  Jesus is that love, the person of love.  And I am his and he is mine. And I have an eternity of memories to look forward to.  So maybe you cannot go back home, but someday I will be home, where my eternal residence will be.  Walking the streets of gold, “that’s where David lives, John lives, Fu lives.”  My new neighbors for eternity.  And my wife and sons there too.  Who will be their neighbors?  Who will be yours?  His love endures forever....”hi neighbor!”

love with compassion,

Mike

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