New Life

I’ll just come out and say it—I like to write. Writing is like having a conversation, but with a chance to stay on topic and to consider my words before saying them . A real conversation—you know, where you speak with someone—is hard work for me. It’s multi-tasking, and I don’t like multi-tasking. I like to enjoy what I’m doing, not just distractedly get something done while distractedly getting something else done. No, I still don’t say things perfectly when I write; I still look back and think how I wish I had said—or not said—this or that, but I at least I get a chance to think at least a little about what I’m saying.

I’m not a deep thinker. I can’t/don’t ruminate on philosophical or theological quandaries. I don’t get caught up in polarizing debate. I can almost always see that both sides have at least some value worthy of defending. “Liberals” get some things right. “Conservatives” get some things right too. I don’t need to know THE answer, I’m OK with mysteries and partial answers.

The biggest problem I see with any sort of conversation or expression of thought, whether spoken or written, is that people tend to permanently link “what you have said” to their understanding of “what you believe.” They fill in the gaps with their prejudices and then pigeon-hole you into their idea of the sort of person you are. “Did you hear what he said? He’s one of THEM.” But conversation is more like improvisation than creed, and even a statement of belief is only accurate in the present. Even if I say most enthusiastically and sincerely that I’ll believe in something forever, that statement has no power on the me of the future to force it to believe. Things that I say, and therefore things that others say are at best only accurate for the moment. How many times have I thought after I said something “I don’t believe that! Why did I say that?” The answer is that I was improvising and multitasking and sometimes I just say stuff… And sometimes I just write stuff.

So often, words from someone’s past—whether written or spoken—are used as weapons against the present version of that person, as if once words are spoken they are always accurate and cannot be rescinded or tempered. I try hard to let people be who they are today and not assume they are who they were yesterday. This is very hard to do and, unfortunately, frequently disappointing.

I believe now and have for sometime in the past (and have high hopes for future continued belief) that there is a God and that Jesus was/is somehow part of this God entity. I also believe that the words and beliefs that Jesus expressed were not of the fleeting/temporary nature that everyone else’s are. He was not winging it. He was not “thinking out loud.” His words had the power to effect the future. Does that mean I’m a religious weirdo—or from another perspective a unorthodox heretic? Yeah, probably…

Isn’t it dangerous as a business owner to express your beliefs (as wish-washy as they are) publicly and risk offending potential customers? Yeah probably…

But life is short. I want to make an impact on the planet while I’m here, not just blend in with the homogenous flow in the gutter of popular culture and safe business practice. If someone is offended by what I have written here, they must be trying awfully hard to be offended.

It’s Easter. There are at least four perspectives on this “holiday”: Pagan, Christian, Humanist and Commercial. Allow me to emphasize the humanistic at the risk of bolstering the commercial. Easter is a celebration of new beginnings and breaking free from the past. I really want to help people make the transition from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy one by getting on a bike and getting fit. Sure, that might benefit me, but not nearly as much as it benefits the one making the change. The concept of “New Life” exists in the biological, theological, and spiritual sense, as well as in daily lifestyle. My Easter wish, dare I say “prayer,” is for all who seek change toward something better to find a way to overcome and start anew.

Change the world. Change You. Ride a bike.

By Mike Johnson on April 25, 2011   /   West Trails Bicycle Blog