Stopping at the Bottom of the Hill

My grandson Gavin loves the movie “Cars.” He is troubled that the cars have no eyebrows, but nonetheless, he loves that animated feature. Truth be told, so do I. The musical sound track is actually pretty cool too. You get Cheryl Crow, James Taylor, John Mayer, Hank Williams and Chuck Berry in the same place.

You also get a very cool song by Rascal Flatts entitled “Life is a Highway.” One phrase in the song reads:

Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

“Sometimes you turn your back to the wind.” Is that not a very descriptive phrase?

I am a cyclist. I love riding my bicycle. I do not do it as much as I should now, but boy do I love it. However, I digress.

I have ridden my bike in all kinds of terrain. I have ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway (the entire 480 miles), Skyline Drive (all 105 miles three separate times.) I have also ridden hundreds of miles while on vacation at the beach. While at the beach I love the feeling that comes when your back is to the wind. It is like a huge hand is on your back giving you an assist that cannot be fully described. So when I hear those lines in the Rascal Flatts song that is the image that comes to my mind.

As I said, I have ridden a variety of terrain. If you read the locations, you noticed the mountainous territories on the list. There is a daunting feeling that comes over you when you approach the bottom of a hill and realize that you will be going uphill for miles. (One hill on the Blue Ridge is seven miles long!) The thrill of feeling your back to the wind is incredible. However, the thrill that comes from cresting a hill after a long hard climb is even more exhilarating. Words could hardly do this feeling of accomplishment justice. If I were to stop when approaching the hill and dismount I would miss that thrill. I have done just that.

Last week, while attending a two day conference, I had no less than tem individuals chastise me for not writing here. It was not intended as chastisement, or maybe it was. If so, it was received exactly as it was intended in the best sense. One person said something to this effect, “Terry, you have something worth saying. You have something worth writing. Stop depriving the rest of us of your gift that God has clearly given you.”

Ouch. And thank you.

Oh yeah, as much as I like the “back to the wind feeling,” or “the cresting the hill feeling,” my FAVORITE feeling on my bike is screaming downhill. I have gone 59 miles per hour downhill on those tiny tires! I absolutely love it. Guess what? If I do not climb; I do not cresting and I get no downhill. So, it is time for me to start climbing.

I accept the words from others as God speaking to me. I will not go into all that has happened, my fault or not, to cause me to stop. It really does not matter. I will just accept the words of admonishment and act accordingly. I will get back on the bike and climb the hill.