Rules of the Road

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I witnessed something a couple of weeks ago that has weighed on my conscience since the event occurred. So, since it is bugging me, I must rant a bit to relieve this weight that is on my mind.

I took my dogs on a walk on a Sunday afternoon. I was walking along the lake shore near my home. The lake has a bike/walking path along most of the lake, however, there are a few segments where walkers, runners, cyclists and skaters must share the road with automobiles. I was walking alongside one of these segments when I see a young lady jogging toward me. She was running against automobile and bicycle traffic. A small pack of riders passed me, and as they passed the jogger, a rider wearing a Texas Tech cycling jersey called out to the jogger, “Wrong way!”

The cyclist had grey hair, a little bit of a belly, and was riding a bike that had to cost several thousand dollars. And he obviously was in charge of everything that goes on in and around that park.

Asshole.

Now for some facts that the Texas Tech jackoff is ignorant of.

Rule #1: Walk Facing Traffic. As early as kindergarten, I was taught to walk on the sidewalk, but when that was not possible, to walk facing traffic, so you could see cars coming toward you. Bicycles are to follow the same laws of the road that automobiles must follow

Nearly every walking/cycling path I have been on has had a notice that those on foot should be on the left, those on wheels should be on right.

Single track paths (typical of mountain biking/hiking trails) have a nearly universal rule in the U.S. that riders should go clockwise and walkers/hikers/runners should travel counter-clockwise.

There was a young lady killed a couple of years ago on another very busy trail in Dallas. It turns out that trail does not encourage walkers to follow Rule #1.

At the Carwash

We got back from a short vacation at the beach on Monday, so I went to get the car washed. I was tired from driving all day, then doing the things necessary to get back into the groove of our daily lives, so I paid for the full service wash. While I was waiting, a young lady wearing a white sundress, with a tattoo of Chinese characters along the top of her foot, sat directly across from me. This was my view:


It’s good to be home.

Day by Day, Driving to Death

Our family moved closer to school, closer to work, and, in general, closer to our lives. I knew it was draining us on a spiritual level, and now there is evidence the hours spent in the car were slowly killing us.

A study published this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that the longer people drive to work, the more likely they are to have poor cardiovascular health.

“This is the first study to show that people who commute long distances to work were less fit, weighed more, were less physically active and had higher blood pressure,” said Christine M. Hoehner, a public health professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the study’s lead author. “All those are strong predictors of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.”

I stopped counting within about two weeks of moving, but I had calculated that my wife and I saved somewhere around 5 hours of driving per week, and that was before the kids even went back to school after the winter break. That was 5 hours to relax, to go on walks, to enjoy time with our family.

I honestly do not know how we survived before shortening our commute, and reducing the hours we spend in a car.

I have to learn to keep my mouth shut

I opened my mouth at work the other day, expressing a political opinion that will likely leave my boss with the impression that I am a kook. But I promised myself that I would not post about politics here, even though I want to really badly. So instead, allow me to share this politically important video:

Do I need a break?

Yesterday, I went for a ride around the lake after work. In the course of my ride I decided to take a bit of a detour and explore a new segment of the bike trail that is under construction. Along this path, is a heavily wooded floodplain. As I was riding alongside the woods, I couldn't help but imagining that I could just escape from life in those woods. I would be hidden from the world right in the middle of the city. I could just disappear, and still be near.

I don't think it is unnatural to want to get away; that is why we go on vacation. We all need some time to ourselves, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a post from Mark's Daily Apple on The Restorative Power of the Personal Retreat.

Maybe, my mind is telling me I need a break or a "psychological restoration." And maybe God or the universe is reinforcing that thought by posting a reminder.

It's my life...

"It's my life, and I can do whatever I want!"

That was the protest that came out of my teenager's mouth as we were arguing about schoolwork, or chores or something.

I can recall the words that came from my mouth, but not from my brain.

"No, it's not your life."

Those words came out several notches of volume lower that the preceding conversation. They were not my words. They came from somewhere else.

....

Yesterday I was offered a job. It sounds like a good job. It would give me an opportunity to grow professionally. It would give me the opportunity to expand my horizons intellectually. It would give me the opportunity to expand my personal and professional network quite substantially. And it offers a bit more money and an equity stake in the company. Even better, I did not even have to apply for it; they called me out of the blue.

But...

....

This morning I took the boys to church, figuring a little talk about the meaning of life might be beneficial to my rebellious teenager. But, as is so often the case, there was an important message for me. 

The sermon this morning was about temptation, the temptation of the ego. And accepting a shortcut to your goals or your vision will leave you short of your goal and without integrity.

....

The combination of these events created a realization in me. The realization that the words I uttered, those words that were not mine, are a divine or natural truth. They are The Law. We exist to serve others. Those may be our friends or our family. Others may be co-workers, clients, colleagues. They may be complete strangers, the homeless we encounter on our community's streets, or the dignitary in a motorcade. Every act we commit not only impacts us, it impacts everyone in contact with us. Or, like the Butterfly Theory suggests, our actions have an impact well beyond our immediate environment. 

I turned down the job. It was a shortcut, and one I did not want to experience the results of taking.

Rejecting a Guilt Offering

There are basically three types of gifts. There are gifts of gratitude, gifts of recompense and gifts of guilt. In Biblical terms these gifts are given to God under the names of the the Fellowship Offering, the Sin Offering, and the Guilt or Trespass Offering.
(There is another transaction that is often confused with gift giving: when a gift is given with an expectation of receiving a gift. This is NOT a gift. This kind of exchange is more aptly defined as commerce.)
The Fellowship Offering is one that flows from the love and appreciation we have for each other. The Sin Offering is one that is given to right a wrong, an apology. The Guilt Offering is made as a substitute for that which really needs to be exchanged. God blessed us with gift giving. Perhaps He knew that gift giving would be a way to create community, not just with Him, but with each other also.
Human civilization has always appreciated the importance of the gift. Gifts are the things that bind us together, deepening our relationships with each other and with our community. I've been reading the book Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition. The first chapter speaks of the importance of gifts in human society. Read it. You might learn a thing or two.

In the past week I have received two gifts. One was a gift of gratitude, one was a guilt offering. I know this was the case because in each case the giver of the gift told me so. The gift of gratitude I have accepted joyfully though the item is of little value to me. But the guilt offering I have rejected, even though it is a thing I value highly.
I do not know the effect my rejection of the guilt offering will have, if any. But I do know the effect it had on the Nation of Israel: generations of bondage under a foreign power, and a way of life foreign to the life God intended for His children.
How do you give gifts?