the Land of Enchantment

We were on our way to a place we have been before, but going on roads we had never been on before.  A familiar and ongoing saga in our travels.  This time our turn around point would be Las Cruces, New Mexico, and dodging the long and boring I-8 corridor.  It would take us on state highways with towns like Animas, Playas, Huechos, and with a planned lunch in Columbus.  Now New Mexico is not new and it isn’t Mexico either, and one sunset will capture and lure you back forever, and see why it is called the Land of Enchantment.  But on today’s trip, it was high desert, prairie type grass lands, all under the careful surveillance of a blimp, keeping our border safe.  History tells us over 100 years ago when Pancho Villa stormed across and tried to take back part of New Mexico, the President sent 10,000 troops along with Black Jack Pershing and sent the running back home.  So planning a stop at Pancho Villa State Park, don’t bother, it is now a campground, we decided to eat lunch, with only half of the two places to eat open, Irma’s, and two bikes in the lot.  The Triumph Bonneville in the creamsicle color like one I had caught my attention, the other an R1 with some custom things added.  They were just coming out from lunch in the hole in the wall, and we started talking.  Noticing the paper tag on the Bonne, and the Douglas Motors frame, I told Harry, its owner, I knew Art also, and a friendship was made.  I have known Art the owner for years, bought my last two bikes from him, what are the chances in meeting someone 800 miles away, in a town no more than an intersection, who we both know and buy our bikes from?  If you guessed 100%, you win!

But it was the rider on the R1 who I spent most of my time talking with.  Seems he is a disabled vet, who has no use of his legs.  Which hasn’t kept him from going fast, and wearing out tires.  He knew his stuff, and he showed me the custom sidestand that came down at a stop to keep him upright, the had controls for brakes and shifting, and we talked of speed and handling.  An unlikely pair as you could imagine, add us and you can call it a divine intervention.  Along with a short history of the area and roads to ride, while bikers zoomed by on this 45 degree, cloudy day.  With Pink’s, just across the border two miles away, where they still let you cross by showing your license only, a far cry from the blimp tracking us and sending info to the State Police and Border Patrol lining the roads.  The food could have been better, but talking with Irma made up for it.  Seems the Land of Enchantment is more than sunsets and great roads. it is the people who call it home.  Having called NM home for six years, I can say I know the feeling...which keeps drawing me back.  I can see the road by cycle this spring already.

The trendy call it bonding, but it seems ducks have been doing it for centuries.  When a duck is hatched from its egg, it bonds to the first thing it sees, claiming it as its mother.  If not its mother, the real mother will not claim ownership of it, which explains rows of ducks following behind their mother duck. That first meeting just out of the egg setting the tone for all future relationships, duck and other.  If you can remember first making other friends who ride, and then travel, you get it, we tend to latch onto those we share common ground with, sorting out the details as we ride.  But what about the first time you meet Jesus?  Is it really the spirit that has drawn you to him, or an emotion, a church event, or even a traditional denominational calling?  What or who is the first thing you see when accepting Christ into your heart?  Is it joining a fellowship, becoming a member, attending classes, or is it meeting Jesus personally?  It seems many can be called, but few are chosen, and the follow up, or discipleship is very important.  What do you remember of the first studies, first Bible verses, and first prayer time with Jesus?  Were you swept away by emotion, or by Jesus, and did the follow up teaching reinforce your new relationship with him?  Nothing new among the body of believers, but how many enter this land of enchantment without Jesus?  Seems it does occur, or Jesus himself would not have mentioned it.

Just like our conversation at Irma’s strengthened our relationship with our new friends, it soon went beyond the cursory sentences and into our personal riding.   Like it is supposed to be with Jesus.  Yet in Matthew 25 we find him addressing the church folk, who brag on the their church activities.  Trying to impress God himself by their actions, but he sees through them, telling them “to be gone, I never knew you.”  Something to consider if your whole relationship with Jesus is based on filling a pew for an hour a week.  Or trying to impress others what a great Christian you are.  Or claiming to have a form of godliness, but without evidence of Jesus in your life.  Who is your life about?  Do you have religion or Jesus?  Only one will get you into heaven....

In this life we will be tested like the old ones in the Bible.  To see who our allegiance is really to, and who our heart belongs to.  James tells us that these trials are a blessing, tough to see when in the midst of them, but true believers turn to Jesus in them, and grow closer to him.  Seeing a side of his suffering and giving us more insight to him.  Our prayers and actions will reveal if he truly is our Lord, and who is in charge.  We are either in God’s way or in the way.....you cannot be both.  For Jesus, like the mother duck, knows who are his, and calls us his own.  Some may pretend to the throne, self deceived or religiously motivated, but God knows his own.  The question is, do you?  Have you really given it all over to Jesus?  Have you repented, is he changing your life from the inside, to be more like him?  Or have you joined a church and put them and their traditions before Jesus?  If there is any sense of joy and peace, it can only come from the one who is love and joy and peace.  Emotions aside, joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God.  While some seek the spiritual gifts for themselves, I am glad God found favor with me and shared the gifts of healing, teaching, and others with me, I need all the gifts I can get, including salvation as in Ephesians 2, free so that none should boast. I rather boast in Jesus and his resurrection....and someday gaining entrance into the real land of enchantment, heaven itself.  Where your heart is you will follow, do you really follow Jesus, or just after the benefits....

I thought I had seen most of New Mexico, I was wrong, for God took us on a road set up just for us that day.  Think you  have seen it all or know it all from religion?  You need Jesus.  And he proves it daily, sometimes in the tests, sometimes in the blessings.  If that same burning in your heart is like the two men on the road had after meeting Jesus, it only draws us closer.  Near or far, Jesus is everywhere, knows the best roads, and better yet knows the road you are on.  Leaving you with two questions he asked, “who do you say I am?” and “why do you call me Lord if you do not do the things I ask?”  With one extra we all need to answer, “have I made you my enemy by telling you the truth?”   Do you really know Jesus or just know about him.....so many roads and so little time, why not let him guide you?  And enjoy the ride like never before.

By the way, we texted Art, he was blown away.  As for the State Trooper and Theresa....another time. 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

Bondo theology

As a young gearhead, and knowing absolutely nothing more than my friends who seemingly knew even less, the first time someone told me about Bondo, I was impressed.  I had recently discovered it in the left rear quarter of my Dad’s BMW, body filler the shop called it, too polite or honest to call it what it was.  But the smooth fender contours were restored and no one knew unless they opened the trunk, and it had been hastily touched up, so who cares, right?  But my first hands on experience, pun intended, was when a friend was replacing the front end on another friend’s 1962 Corvette that had stopped slower than the car he was tail gating.  With no skills in fiberglass, he was filling in any gaps and spaces with Bondo as I watched, not wanting to get my pretty boy hands dirty.  Nor be blamed later as I saw the job progressing.  I did help with the sanding, and watched as the car was then painted in the old stand alone one car garage, the colors at night under the trouble light looked pretty good.  At least to me, at least in the dark.  But going by after school the next day, I had done better finger painting than the paint job on the car.  It seems the color had an outstanding effect on the car as everywhere the Bondo had been applied stood out.  It had actually looked better before the paint, my first real experience with Bondo, prepping for paint and its importance, and why you don’t let just anyone fix the body of your Corvette. 

Now in our town Corvettes were a rarity, and I often saw this car, and felt sorry for it, maybe more than its owner.  But over the next few years, when I would see it around town, I noticed the paint cracking where the Bondo had been applied, seems the Bondo had this wonderful ability to shrink, causing the paint to crack, and the imperfections observed.  No Corvette in my mind deserved this treatment, but as the years went by and being involved in the auto industry, I saw more Bondo than I thought possible.  It seems that you can either fix it right,which takes time and money, or for less time and less money, Bondo the bodywork, a sure way around doing it the right way, and avoiding a quality repair.  Why spend the money you don’t have to do it right when you can Bondo it?  In both cases, fixed but not repaired, hiding the wound and leaving the scar.  Something no one else we knew would ever do.....

Over the years in visiting body shops, I have seen Bondo in fenders, doors, hoods, trunks, and even some creative types using it for custom bodywork.  I once saw door slammed on an old Mustang, and the whole right hand door fell apart, it was Bondoed.  I have also seen it quickly painted over and a customer drive off thinking he had a quality job until the next day, then oops.  Or one accident where after the car was towed, two men sweeping up the Bondo left behind.  It seems if there is a cheaper way to fix something, someone will find it.  And since its invention in 1955, filling in the cracks and hiding the damage has never been easier, or less effective.

It seems everyone wants an easier fix, cheap and effective and fast.  Gotta hurry up and wait somewhere else.  So it is with Christians and their prayer life.  Ask now and expect God to drop everything and give in to your demands.  Take the easy way out, even with God, and you pay the consequences.  Prayer like that is like taking your own food into the diner, telling the cook how to cook it and demanding he do it now.  Or telling the mechanic how to fix your ride.  Or telling the doctor your diagnosis, and assisting in the operation.  Stupid hurts, by design, yet too many times we pray for a Bondo repair when God has the right plan.  There is a big difference between being sorry and being remorseful, sorry you got busted or sorry you hurt someone, big difference.  Forgiveness is not putting Bondo on your sin, and covering the damage, forgiveness is repenting, the acknowledgment of your sin, and asking Jesus to intervene, and then letting go and letting him deal with it.  No quickie Nirvana, no Earl Scheib $39.95 paint job will cover the real damage done.  Only Jesus can forgive and replace the damage.  But sometimes it takes time....

How many nights have you not slept worrying or not listening to God after opening up your heart?  Not waiting for him, but wanting it all now.  And not sleeping and paying the price the next day.  Prayers like Bondo, that crack in the light and the damage exposed, because we didn’t let God handle it.  Jesus tells us to take his yoke for it is easy, a yoke being around the neck of the weaker ox so the stronger one could lead. The Jews refer to the law as the yoke, so taking Jesus’s law of love, and applying it, letting him as the stronger one lead you, it somehow all makes sense, and it works.  So Jesus invites us to take the best way, not the easiest, or quickest, but his way, for he is the way. Now if some of us would only get out of the way.... and let Jesus be Jesus.

When we take Jesus’ yoke we become harnessed with him, and as the great shepherd, whose job is to protect his flock, he can lead us by the still waters, through the valley of the shadow of death, and into his fullness.  No denominational, no theology full of holes, no spiritual Bondo will ever replace Jesus.  Like we used to tell our impatient customers, “do you want it now or do you want it done right?”   You can microwave a steak, but grilling it takes a bit longer and reveals the flavor within.  Bedside manner is a poor substitute for doing it right the first time.  We say we trust Jesus, but do your responses to his answers bear that out?  Could it be you are serving a Bondo god, who has can cover up your sin, but not eradicate it?  Or forgive it?  Are you willing to take the yoke of Jesus?  Or do you need your car for a big date tomorrow?  Are you just trying to impress a crowd with your words or be impressed by Jesus and his action in your life? 

Bondo may be only 65 years old, but Bondo theology is nothing new.  Jesus told us the spirit of anti-Christ was already here, the instead of Jesus religion.  Patience is the fourth fruit of the spirit named, built on love, joy, and peace.  If sin is chipping away and your Bondo theology revealed, Jesus will still save you, if you repent.  He is patient when we aren’t, and that yoke is still easy.  Wherever you are right now you can be forgiven, just call out to him.  Sadly the world is filled with cheap body shops and cheap churches, theology with many holes in it, you get what you pay for.  No matter the price of your soul, Jesus covered it.  Instead of Master Card, let the the Master take Charge.  Bondo may cover the damage, it cannot repair the heart.  The cracks of sin are already showing, we can see them, and God does.  Now are you willing to admit them and repent? 

Bondo theology, not what Jesus died for.  Don’t you die with it.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

I've spent most of my life at 18

I was part of the first group of 18 year olds who were able to vote at that at age.  Man we felt like we knew it all, we had all the answers even though we hadn’t heard but the questions on our tests and quizzes.  And barely passed.  We had the right to vote, but no knowledge of who or what to vote for.  It was all about us, what could school, our parents, the government, and our girlfriends do for us.  We didn’t know at the time how good life really was, 25 cent gas, 15 cent hamburgers, and it was a golden age for motorcycles.  In my high school it wasn’t if you went to college, it was where, and that decal in your parents’ station wagon rear window spoke volumes.  We had everything ahead of us, bright and shiny futures ahead, we had it all except the wisdom to do the right things.  For some it would come quickly when drafted, some delayed for seven years in college, and some never got it, just the illusion.  We were young and we were old, being able to do just about anything we wanted, and if we failed, like in kickball, we could call “do over.”  Reality hadn’t fully set in yet, you could always move back in with your parents, and with my part time job at Sears, I felt like a rich man, even Alice Cooper got it it with his hit, “I’m eighteen and I like it, love it....”

I never imagined at 18 that by the time I was 21 I would have thrown a leg over my R90S and ridden to Albuquerque in November.  My 18 year old outlook still told me I could do anything, and that things were the same everywhere.  In a classic case of “if I had known” things probably would have turned out different, maybe better, or maybe worse.  I looked at life through my 18 year old eyes, but now was faced with adult decisions, rent, car payment, who to marry, do I marry, and suddenly, it was time to vote again.  In three and half years I had gone from kid to adult, and I was expected to perform like one, no more excuses about age, a time that should have been the best years of my life, suddenly I had to grow up.  A battle I faced for the next 44 years, and still face every morning.  Turning 64 I listened more attentively to the Beatles sing “When I’m 64,” and a time of bliss, but life went on with no respect of my age.  My 18 year outlook now in a 65 year old body, high miles and in need of maintenance, and wondering sometimes “will you need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64....” At 18 I had 60 years ahead, at 65 I may have 18 years ahead.  And I still am not quite sure how to behave in public yet.....

I had faced many health issues in my life from arthritis to an exploding aorta.  I have been hit and run and left for dead, crashed too many times, and today I feel it.  Not sure what it is yet, but I feel it.  At 18 I healed much faster, and had more energy to do it.  But my yearly checkups by various doctors tell me I’m in great shape, for an 80 year old, but in my mind I am still 18.  Just the other day a man approached me and asked me if the Street Triple R was mine.  My helmet had to be a dead give away, his answer “you’re not what I expected .”  He thought I would be much younger than I was, he was much younger than I thought he was.  I still get excited when I hear a big V8 roar by, when a hot bike hits the rev limiter, or when I flip the face shield up and reveal the old man in it, much to the surprise of the guy in the next lane.  I still feel like 18, want to perform like I’m 18, but at the end of the day I’m glad I’m not.  I wouldn’t want to be 18 again, for with what I now know I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. 
And I like to have fun.  So what is a person who has spent most of his life at 18 to do?

I am reminded of my Sunday School teacher Mrs. Campbell, who at 94 still taught with a vitality because she knew Jesus.  She would call me midweek and quiz me to make sure I was in the word, she seemed ageless.  When one day she told me she wanted me to meet her daughter, I figured everyone was about my age, turns out she was 72, I was 34.  But still 18.  She had not stopped living, but was still learning and growing in Christ, enjoying each day, knowing heaven was closer today than yesterday, but her Jesus kept her young at heart.  In Psalm 92 we read of two trees budding.blossoming, and growing in the Lord.  They were valued for their fruit and wood, offering a sense of vitality, prosperity, and usefulness.  Like they were rejoicing, just like we need to do when we are in Christ Jesus, loving, leading, sharing,and ministering to others in his love.  Years without an age, and suddenly I feel 18 again.  I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me, not too old to listen and learn, still old enough to ride and enjoy.  When my roots are deeply rooted in the spirit, I still see things as a  young man, but now have the experience in Jesus to back them up.  To see the wisdom in the godly advice I ignored, to still dream of next year’s ride, to be excited about my grandsons growing up, and growing older and closer to Theresa.  I don’t wish to be seen as an old man, but as a seasoned Christian who can share Jesus, whose advice carries weight because I know Jesus and can testify of him personally.  And with the days to rest so I can be ready for tomorrow...

Psalm 92 has the footnote “for the Sabbath,”  a day of rest to worship the Lord, look back on how he has brought us to this point, and to listen for next weeks lessons.  To rest in him.  For some a day, for me Jesus is my Sabbath, and I can rest in him everyday.  I don’t have to wait for Sunday, or battle with others who dispute which day, I can have the peace and calmness and be 18 in all things everyday, enjoying life abundantly, as promised.  Do you celebrate the day or the person?  The Jews considered long life a blessing from God, I consider all life a blessing from God.  Suddenly 18 seems so young....and I am not so old anymore.

No matter your age or stage of walk in Christ, it can only get better in him.  Sure the trials and tests will consume a good part of the days, but in those times we see a side of him we would miss otherwise.  If I was never sick I would never know how he is the great physician, if never in need how he is the great provider, and without a savior never know my sin and how it is forgiven.  So James is right when he tells us to rejoice in our trials, they only bring us closer to Jesus.  I can look back a life in Christ that celebrates his blessings, and still look ahead.  At 18 I could only look ahead....not knowing I would spend the rest of my life there. 

Experience Jesus today, enjoy the life he offers, and all the blessings he offers.  Avoid religion, seek him first.  Don’t let anyone tell you that you are too young or too old, and let every day be new and exciting in Jesus.  With only one question left to ponder, “do you like the Rolling Stones better from the 60’s or in their 60’s?”  Thank you Lord for letting me be there, and still here now.  Oh, and that satisfaction they can’t get none of, I found it years ago in Jesus.  With many more trips at redline ahead....before the rev limiter of life kicks in!  

Just because you are growing old doesn’t mean you have to grow up!  But with a dose of humility...I’m still old enough to know better, but still young enough to enjoy it!

love with compassion,

Mike

mattehw25biker.blogspot.com