I Smell Spring!

Living in Michigan, I have come to appreciate the significance of this annual event we call, "SPRING." The change in the smell of the air, the warming of the temperatures, the greening of the grass, and even the watering that comes to my eyes because of allergies all serve notice that things have changed. Winter is gone. Spring has come.

I suppose it's natural to think about things like new birth and hopefulness and all that stuff that sounds nice and fluffy for Christ-followers, but this spring has brought about a new ritual. Last year my wife, Becky, and I purchased bicycles. Neither of us are terribly athletic, and so this seemed like a nice opportunity for us to have something physical to do that would get us outside. And so we rode quite a bit last year until the seasons changed and we were forced to put the bikes aside for the snow and cold of winter.

Today I took my first real bicycle ride of the season. I suppose that common sense would dictate warming up at the beginning of the season by taking several short rides, but in my town spring calls us to the beach and shoreline of Lake Michigan. Anxious to see water I took off for the fourteen mile ride to the beach. The wind was not terribly strong but was awfully consistent and, naturally, blowing from all directions simultaneously, and I fought it during the entire 2 1/2 hour ride. Well, okay, maybe not for the entire ride.

There was one section of the ride where I realized that the wind was perfectly square to my back. The noise of the wind stopped, and I was able to pedal easily. There was no traffic on the road at that particular time and I made great time until I had to turn around and head face on directly back into the wind again.

I feel like I should make an observation about the Holy Spirit here, but the observation would be trite and inconsistent with my own life experience. I want the Holy Spirit to always be blowing easily at my back, propelling me forward in my journey, but I realize that often times the Holy Spirit blows against me, and not always because I'm heading the wrong direction. Sometimes it's just really hard to, well, live, and it can feel like the Spirit is slowing us down. What I have come to realize, though, is that my legs get a LOT stronger from riding into the wind then they do when the wind is at my back.

Now excuse me while I go put some Ben-Gay all over my body.