Biker's High

I went on a bike ride tonight with my music. It was wonderful.

It was about 7:20 p.m., the air was cool, and the sun was beginning to set before me. I rode into the sunset with many different melodies and smells entering in and out. The ever-nostalgic "pumpkin" smell of Morton drifted to me at one point, and a hundred childhood memories and feelings swept me away. I will always love that smell. On the bike trail, I smelled anything from musty to fresh to evening to garlic... and it was all an excellent backdrop to my wandering thoughts.

I like the idea of pedaling into a cool night with nothing but my music and my mind... allowing me to be "free" and "timeless" for those 60 minutes that I am gone. In that time frame, nothing else really matters except God's creation around me, and all of the imaginations that are evoked from it.

I went further tonight than usual, and was trying to decide where to turn around when the brush on my left broke down and the landscape opened up into a big field. Before me was the beginning of a breath-taking sky... reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and purples all splashed into the open, making the clouds dance. There was a bench cleverly placed right in front of this scene, and I could not help but hop off my bike and sit down for a second or two... I really enjoy seeing God's artwork in the sky.

On my way home, the sky was behind me, and every so often I would glance back (while trying not to fall off my bike). The picture only got prettier and more vivid in color and beauty.

Today in church, our elder ministered to us and told us how he visited his mother in the nursing home yesterday. He was talking to her and said,

"Mom, Dad has been gone for almost 30 years now."

"Has it been that long?" she asked.

"Yes. You know, he's missed out on a lot in those 30 years."

On this earth, 30 years is a long time, and a lot can go on. Ted said after he thought about that statement, he had to correct himself once he remembered where his dad resided.

"Actually, Dad hasn't missed out on anything. He's been in Heaven for the past 30 years. Given the choice, he wouldn't want to come back. We are the ones who have missed out."

What a perspective. Sometimes being in this life makes us so wrapped up in it that we think those who are gone must be missing it. Yet we have the amazing hope of Heaven before us, and who would trade that for anything? I was talking with a couple of friends this weekend and heard about seeing colors unseen in Heaven someday. Colors that far surpass the sunset that I saw tonight. When I see such extravagant scenes, I cannot help but think that it is just a small glimpse of Heaven.

Love you all!

T