Day 35. Sunday.

I woke up this morning not feeling the usual thoughts of what time is it ,will everyone be gone? Is there any breakfast left. How long will the bathroom line be? What do I need to do to my bike? Are my water bottles full? Will there be any coffee left?  Ahhh it's Sunday. 

A nice slow paced breakfast. People talking about everything but the route or bikes. They were however talking about some pretty serious issues. Probably one of the most important things you can do daily on this trip. The issue is.  Where do I place my tent. Am I beside the atomic snorer. What if I'm in between two of them. Should we mark their tents with an S.    now considering all the beans we've been eating you have to make sure your not down wind from the flatulant tenters.  Maybe mark there tents with a F. Then there's the dreaded early risers. I think most of the have hearing aids or don't realize their  hearing is going. They bumble around like their the only ones in camp. Click click click go there tent poles. Hey if I'm awake everyone should be. I know it's only 5 am but I always get up this early. Their tents need a big E on them. After you get stuck next to a few of these people you quickly remember who they are and tend to steer clear of them. 

Doesn't all this kind of remind you of a church. Some of the members always early. Some always late. Some sit in the exact same spots every week. Boy have we settled in our Sundays. Any thing that happens out of the ordinary throws us off. We get to our seat and someone's in it. Would we tell them to move? Should we tell them to move? Here's a true story that happened on this ride. I have to say that because I have been known to enhance things a little. We arrived at a church with the whole group. As we started to find seats in the sanctuary a couple of us were about to sit down when we heard,  "oh no you don't. Those are our seats". Were we at a ball game or the symphony.  Was there paid seating. Were these people part of the welcoming committee. Now we would never do that would we. Our would we. Hey I see your new here, you can't drink coffee on the carpet. You definitely can't bring that Tim Hortons cup into the sanctuary. How did you even get that coffee dont you know it's Sunday. A young member comes into church in shorts and flip flops. I'm sorry I can't hold my tongue. I have to say something to them. Don't they know where they are. Why do we figure we need to negatively interject in these situations. Do we honestly think we are doing good. Have you ever heard of anyone coming to Christ by us winning an argument with them. Or publicly humiliating them. If we go by Jesus' example he didn't try to fix them first. Is it even our job to do that. Are we leaving room for the Holy Spirit. 

Try next Sunday to make a point of not doing these things. Try to talk to someone who you would never normally talk to. Ask them their story and just listen without the judging part. You will find things out about people you never knew. You will be invited into their messy lives. It's not always easy but I can guarantee you will be blessed. You will feel compassion for the people you may formerly felt contempt for. Ask God to give you a situation like that. You will be blessed and in turn a blessing to others. Once you put down the wall you've been hiding behind it will amaze you how your life will change. God wants your desire. He really is not worried about your competence. If He only picked competent people he wouldn't have picked the disciples he did. Put yourself out there. Trust in Him and  see what happens. 

Have a great Sunday full of opportunities to show Gods love. Then just leave it at that. Take your normal tendencies and bury them at home. I hope it works for you. Len.