Trevor and I arrived in Rio Grande late this morning. The wind was powerful and in our faces for most of the ride. Such was its force that, when we turned a bend and it blew into our sides, it caused both of us to fall at different times. Impressively strong wind.
We biked 15-20km into the wind at its strongest and crawled along the entire way. Trevor´s chain even self-destructed...mildly. Still, he made this simple yet profound statement, "All progress is forward progress" (he even did it with a genuine smile on his face). I laughed. Progress shmogress. I have expectations here. I expect to be able to bike along the flat pavement at 15km/hr...at the very least! If I can´t do that, I expect to be able to alter my circumstances in some way such that I can. Failing that...well...I quit!
Maybe not. It just seems so hard sometimes. And all I´m doing is biking.
I read two emails from people in situations far worse than mine, and equally as powerless to change their circumstances. What does one do when surrounded by death or evil or hatred or illness...what can we do? All progress is forward progress...but damn...it sure would be nice to change the circumstances in which we´re progressing sometimes, wouldn´t it?
I can´t even begin to express the fulness of the amazing generosity that has been poured out upon us in our travels, by God directly, through eachother, and through new friends and strangers. I am grateful to get to bicycle into the wind. I am grateful when it calms down, too... May we learn to delight less in circumstances and our standing relative to others, and more in progress. Loving God with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls, and with all of our strength. And loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Further up, further in!
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