Road Rash

 Thursday, May 25th, I left my house shortly after 2:00PM, road my bicycle partway to work and woke up at 3:45PM in the bed of an ambulance at the bottom of Windy Point, a long, steep hill two miles from my house. My last memory is that it was a beautiful day to take the climb easy and enjoy the scenery before the decent. The ambulance arrived due to the call of a motorist who kindly stopped instead of running me over when they found me laying unresponsive in the road in front of them. Some of my burns are simply from laying on the hot pavement while I dreamed about more pleasant things. The rest of my burns are plain old road rash to supplement my broken clavicle, bruised ribs and a concussion. The rest of the event details are as unsearchable as God's ways.

I've often said that you can't study the laws of nature and miss the supernatural. So, naturally, that's where my mind is while I'm recovering from violating some of nature's laws and my wife is graciously helping me change bandages and clothes that I don't quite have the ability to do on my own yet. Thank God that full and timely recovery is expected but we still have to go through the healing process. That is to say, I'm having a hard time reaching the keyboard with my left hand, my mind is getting tired fast and auto correct is working hard to make this a sensible post.

With no further ado, here's the spiritual bit you've all learned to expect from me. When it's obvious that God has spared your life, that's the right time to reevaluate your priorities and make sure they are well aligned with his. Of course, those with higher spiritual IQ's can do that before such an event but here I am wearing the shoe that still fits, even with some fresh scrapes on it. Listen to God's laws and don't make him raise his voice. It will knock you off whatever you're riding same as it knocked Saul (a.k.a. the apostle Pual) off his Donkey. And the lesson isn't quit riding donkeys. It's more like why are you riding one. Motives matter. Time for a nap.

I'll Miss Out

To close the pop-up window soliciting me for the hundredth time to subscribe or face the unmitigated perils of the internet, I had to click the button labeled, "No thanks. I'll miss out". Apparently I need to acknowledge my devotion to simpleton living.

Since I was already humbled and ready to acknowledge my flaws, I had no trouble later when the gas station pump required me to push the "No Loyalty" button to proceed without a points card. Besides, I had already opted to miss out and I didn't want to add being inconsistent to my growing list of character flaws.

I still feel like there's hope, though. Christ's disciples all pushed the "no loyalty" button when it was time to associate with their disgraced and condemned rabbi. And the mobsters of Israel at the time smashed the "I'll miss out" button for lack of conviction that there was any hazard Christ could save them from. In spite of those famous mistakes, the instant any one of them showed enough humility to repent, they were restored to being able to surf the internet and buy gas without doing penance every time. Stick that in your gas tank the next time life demands that you push the "I suck" button. It's a points card you can't lose and you'll get the "life to the full" discount every time.