My older brother inspires me in a number of ways, but lately it's been to cycle more. He recently completed a cycling tour of epic (by my definition of epic, anyways) proportions. So inspired was I that a few weeks ago I lowered my bike from the rafters of my garage, replaced an inner tube or two (yes it's been that long), and made a personal commitment to start biking to work. ("I'm a cyclist now!" is how I announced this decision to my wife, to which she lovingly replied: "Why is it always all or nothing with you?" I was sporting a bright red cycling jersey and an aerodynamic helmet at the time.)
Anyways, on the ride to work this morning I was mulling all this over and it occurred to me that, even though we don't normally group it with the regular spiritual disciplines, there are a number of ways in which cycling is actually spiritual act. Consider the following:
1. Spirit-Body Connectedness. I know this sounds a bit new-age-y, but hear me out. Most biblical scholars would agree that biblical anthropology tends to eschew dualism when it comes to the body/spirit relationship. In other words, the way the Bible sees you, you don't have a body, you are a body; neither do you have a spirit, you are a spirit. One of the curious things about the technological world we inhabit, I think, is that this unity has become obscured-- reality has become "virtual," communication disembodied, and travel (hint, hint) disconnected from the body we once used to get there. But because we are embodied spirits and en-spirited bodies, this disconnect has significant, (though often unnoticed) implications for our spiritual health. By requiring the body to do the actual work of getting around again, cycling helps to re-connect that disconnect, reminding the spirit that the body is far more than just the disposable cup it got poured into.
2. Stewardship. Stewardship is the theological word we use to underline the fact that all we have and all we are really belongs to God, and we will give an account to him in the end for what we did with it. Usually it's used in reference to our money, not cycling, but again, hear me out. A) cycling is good exercise and B) regular exercise keeps us healthy and C) as a rule when you tend to be more productive with your time and energy when you're healthy. Ergo, cycling is good stewardship.
3. Social De-fragmentation. We don't always notice it in the individualistic west, but the Bible places a premium value on healthy, well-connected community. Car culture, by contrast, places a low value on healthy well-connected community. Garages that gobble up front-porches and highways crammed with single-passenger vehicles all roaring along at break-neck speeds by themselves together make for fragmented communities. But I noticed on the ride to work today: the kids waiting for the school bus with mom waved at me, the other cyclist I passed gave me a nod, I was going slow enough to notice the senior out walking her dog, and in all this I felt like the disk-drive of my soul was being defragmented. Community starts, it occurred to me, when we're going slow enough to notice each other.
4. Green footprints. I won't save the planet by cycling. I know this. But biblical scholar or not, you'd have to agree that a cyclist creates far less pollution than a motorist going the same distance. If you've read terra incognita enough, you'll know I've said a lot about the way Christianity should translate into a healed and healing relationship with the earth, but lately I've felt deeply convicted that I'm not actually walking the talk. Cycling is a small start, and if nothing else it renews my convictions.
5. Simplicity. Un-business, I'm beginning to believe, could become the radical new spiritual discipline of the 21st Century. Everyone is so maxed out with calendar-debt that items1-4 seem next to impossible to achieve. Who's got the time for healthy, connected, green community that stewards God's resources well? Cycling, I'm learning, requires me to slow down, and in this, too, it is a spiritual discipline.
0 comments:
Post a Comment