stumbling toward divinity

show your support!

Not for me, although you would be supporting me, but through me you'd be supporting so many other people who need your help, kindness and love.

I've written on this blog several times about bicycling and how it's become something I appreciate and enjoy.  It's something I really like to do and want to keep doing.  So it made sense that when I found a way to use my love for cycling to make a difference and to help people, that I should go for it.

So this summer I am participating in a bicycle ride to raise funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS, and it will benefit some local service organizations.  It's a four day, nearly 300 mile bike ride through several counties in my state.  The thing is, I'm committed to raising $1500 in order to participate.  However, I think I can do better, so I've set my personal goal at $2000.  I've started fund raising a bit, and am off to a good start.  But I could always use some more help and some more sponsors.

I thought that, perhaps, the audience of my blog might be the kind of people that would be interested in supporting a great cause such as this.  If this seems like something you'd be interested in helping with, send me an e-mail through the link on the left, and I'll give you the address for my personal sponsor website.  There you can give a tax-deductible donation securely and electronically, or you can download an order form and send in a check donation.  I'm willing to sacrifice my pseudo-anonymity for this great cause.  I would love your support!

Thanks!!!

it's getting to be that time of year

My bike wants out of the garage.

I've seen it there all winter.  Looking forlorn and neglected.  But the weather has been getting nicer.  The snow is almost all melted.  The road is looking like it needs to be cycled on.

I've been a bit hesitant.  It's been such a cold, snowy winter and I'm not that hardcore of a cyclist.  But we'd have nice weather for a couple days and just when I was thinking that I should finally get my bicycle out and give it a go, we'd get dumped on.  One week we were having temperatures almost to 50 degrees.  Then, the temperature would come tumbling down.  A few days before Good Friday we had gorgeous weather.  Then, on Good Friday, we got eight inches of snow.

So it's getting to be that time.  I need to get that bike out so I can start blogging about my random thoughts while cycling.  But, while you all wait for that, let me direct you to my good friend Shana's blog where she has been talking an awful lot lately about her cycling adventures.  Of course, she's living in tropical Washington DC, so her opportunities for cycling are much greater. 

the latest installment of random thoughts while cycling

Oh, my sweet Jesus, I am going to die...  [insert sound effect of much huffing and puffing]

another installment of random thoughts while cycling

Well, I got the bike out.  It was too nice of a day not to, and plus I was unable to come up with any excuses as to why I couldn't/shouldn't.

And as soon as I was out of my garage and pedaling down the street, I was reminded why I really enjoy getting out there on that bike, and it made me wonder why I had put off getting out there for so long.

My inner soundtrack consisted of one song, this time.  That's pretty understandable because this song has been stuck in my head for the past few days.  It's the musical artist Mika's homage to voluptuous women - or, as I learned from my former blogging friend Omis (before he went and joined the Jesuits) zaftig women.  The song is Big Girl (You Are Beautiful), and you can see the video for it here.

Most of the time on my ride I was thinking about my self-care goals.  I sent in the application for a spiritual director, and I found the letter that they had sent me along with the app.  It described the process this way:  They send me an application.  I fill it out, answering the questions to the best of my ability.  I send it back to them.  The executive director of this spiritual formation center prayerfully reads my application, and then prayerfully considers the spiritual directors in the area who have gone through their training.  This part could take up to two weeks, the letter says.  When a match seems apparent to her, she sends the application to the spiritual director she thinks would be good, and then this person prayerfully considers whether we'd be a good match.  If s/he considers it to be a good match, then s/he contacts me and we set up a first meeting.  This is quite the process!  But it excites me that the end result could be a good spiritual director match for me.  So I'm willing to wait.

I was glad that I finally got my bike out, and was reminded of why it's good to keep cycling and to not take such long breaks.  I remembered one time I raced a train to the intersection so that I could cross over and not have to wait for it to pass by.  As I was riding my bike by this railroad track again today, I didn't think I had it in me to race the train if it were to be there again.  Luckily it wasn't.  My normal route took me longer than it has in the past, but I was taking it easy worrying more about just getting the miles in than setting any sort of personal record for time.

The past couple times I've been at bookstores/stores with books, I've been looking at various cookbooks.  For many years I've been toying with this idea or inclination that I could be a vegetarian.  Or at least eat less meat than I do.  So, as I've been looking at these cookbooks I've been particularly focused on vegetarian cookbooks.  The only thing is, the ones I've found seem to be intended for gourmet cooks, or at least those with more experience in the kitchen than I have.  I can't seem to find a book with simple, easy vegetarian recipes that taste good and make sure I get all the nutrients that I need.  Does anybody know of one or two that they would recommend?  I would greatly appreciate it!

more random thoughts while cycling

Cars are big and scary.  Even hatchbacks.  Anything hurtling by at 60+ mph, and coming within 6 feet of you is a bit unsettling.

Every road should have a shoulder that is wide and PAVED!

It would be really cool if I could use a time machine and take my bike back in time, before bicycles were created, and tell people that I made it "using magic."

Biking socks are cool.  I may have to start wearing them all the time.  Except on Sunday mornings.  I don't think they'd go well with my pastor blacks.

Internal soundtrack:  The camp song "Days of Elijah" and The A-Team theme song.

random thoughts while cycling

Going on extended bike rides, with no iPod or walkman or anything like that, really gives me a lot of time to think.  And if any of you are familiar with the way I think, then you know that these bike rides would allow me to cover a lot of material.  I thought I'd share a few of them with you.

I am fine with motorcyclists.  They do not bother me at all, and I believe they have just as much right to the road as I do.  In fact, one of my bestest friends from the Mothership was an avid motorcyclist.  However, what I do not appreciate is that they often travel in "gangs."  There was one instance in particular today, as I was chugging up this ginormous hill, and a large gang of motorcyclists came up behind me.  One after another after another after another passed me, and I kept trying to glance back just to see when it would end.  At one point, I looked back and was startled to see another one and I lost my balance and my back tire ended up coming up in the air.  Luckily it wasn't that far, and I caught myself and didn't bonk it.  But I lost the little momentum that I had going up the gimongous hill, and so I had to chug harder to get to the top.  I wasn't about to admit defeat and walk!

The other day as I was riding my bike, I passed a wild turkey.  Now, I was informed by my friend Weepy that most people would have thought it was cool to see the turkey, and admired it.  I didn't realize, until she told me, that my reaction might have been a bit abnormal.  The first thing to cross my mind was, "I wonder what I'd do if that turkey attacked me..."  Of course, if you followed my blog about two years ago now, then you'd remember that when I was on internship we had a mob of turkeys that lived nearby the church, and on a number of occasions would pursue me, or sit outside the church and gobble at people menacingly.

Not taking an iPod or a Walkman on these rides to provide a soundtrack, I am forced to provide my own.  The last several days I have had "La Vie Boheme" from the Rent soundtrack going through my brain.  I think it originally had to do with the line, "riding your bike midday past the three-piece suits."  My train of thought went from, "I'm riding my bike," to that line of the song, which brought the rest of it to my mind.  So, that song has been the past few days, but today it was replaced.  The song my brain randomly selected was "Obsession" by the 80's group Animotion.  Of course, I'm flabbergasted as to why this song was the one my brain chose.  I can think of no reasonable train of thought, because the main line that was going through my head as I pedaled was "You're my obsession, Who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me..."

Anyway, those are some random thoughts that occurred while I was biking today and the past couple days.  I'm not sure they are particularly enlightening or entertaining, but now I'm going to go and see if Harry Potter can defeat the evil basilisk!  I'm on the edge of my seats, people!

operation: self-care log #1

Since I bought my bike this past Monday, I have put in approximately 40 miles.  And I'm just getting started!  I've been going kind of gung-ho about this whole biking thing since I've started.  I have this desire to buy all sorts of gear and apparel, but I'm reigning myself in until I prove to myself that I'm in this for the long haul.  I think I'm doing good, so far.  I'm proud of myself for the 40 miles I've put in.

As far as the spiritual director goes, the application is still sitting on my desk.  But I will get it in soon.  I promise!!

Then there's the whole "eating better" thing.  This hasn't been going so well.  Of course, it hasn't helped that I've had guests at my house almost this entire week, and when they've been here we've gone out to eat.  But at least it wasn't at greasy fast food places, and I did try to be a bit mindful of what I was ordering.  I also figure that the bike riding I've been doing has helped counteract some of the unhealthiness factor of the food I've been eating.  At least it makes me feel better...

Stay tuned for more updates!