Riding the White Line

This is the third and final book of a trilogy, of sorts, I had in mind some six years ago. Using cycling tours as a backdrop and for euphemisms and analogies, I have written the series under the title “Riding the White Line.” I discussed values, through encounters with others during my travels, in my first book, “Pedestrian Crossings.” Next, I drew on personal experiences, some as autobiography, in writing about what one does with challenges in life in “Traffic Tickets and Thunderstorms.” In “ Is Grace, Low on the Totem Pole?,” the most religious topic that has formed the center of my life’s journey will be explored. The bicycle touring material for this book is a ride I began in Alaska, called Homer to Home, which started in June 2014 on my recumbent bicycle that I call "Grace." In exploring the religious topic of Grace, this book certainly is the most “heady” and philosophical that I have written. Hopefully, the bicycling experiences I present will make Grace more understandable and relevant for you. If Jesus had been raised in an Inuit culture, I believe he would have understood and spoken in parables about the totem pole. The word "Grace" that we use so often in Christian tradition seems too mystical and ethereal for general understanding, much less as a practical application upon which to base one’s life. I wish to pose and expound on the question: Is Grace low on the totem pole? Using material, stories, and personalities from the ride along with the symbolism of the totem pole in the epilogue, I aim to explore a place that Grace can have in one’s life. First, several definitions will be useful - that of Grace and the Trinity. The more religiously and philosophically astute would expound upon, and maybe even correct, my following statements, but I give you what I have found useful. Let us assume that God can be equated with Love (as in agape, self-giving, and unconditional love), and that Jesus is the fullest realization of that type of love that the world has known. Then Grace can be defined as the abiding (aka: Spirit) presence of that love to and through the legacy of Jesus and each other. The central question of this book is: can Grace, in other words - sacrificial love through the lens of the Trinity, be the foundation and guiding principle of our lives? Since bicycle touring stories are the stepping stones of this book, let’s pull up the kickstand and get rolling. I begin writing this book, having just discontinued, at 56 years of age, my last multi-week fundraising bicycle trip from Homer (Alaska) to Home (Twin Cities). After 1,109 miles and my second spill with resultant heavy bruises and bumps on my right hip, wrist, and chin; prudence and a dose of wisdom overcame my spirit. As I climbed the continental divide in the occasional light drizzle heading toward Swift River Yukon, after having taken the spill early in the morning when crossing the apparently slippery metal decking of the Teslin bridge, the “why” question started popping into my head. Having put a second “raspberry” wound over my first one on my right hip, a gash in my chin, and a thumb pad screaming its painful attention; the thought grew. After the anger, then frustration, I fought with decreasing success the impulse to cash it in, pull the plug, quit on my proclaimed goal of riding 3,900 miles from Homer, AK to home. I fought back some tears during the cadence beat of pedals spinning, as common sense won the day. I stopped at a rest area by Helen Lake, British Columbia, put up my little bivy to stay dry, and put all my rain clothes on to ward off the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes bugged me too much, so I continued riding until Shep and Ann (ride support) showed up. With the increasing chance of heavy rain, symbolically the ride was over for the day anyway. After doing less of an emotional and spiritual query by putting down on paper the pros and cons, I came to the conclusion that, except for personal pride and not maximizing fund raising money, the ride should be discontinued. There is a strong “don’t quit” and “am I good enough” ghost from my upbringing that haunts me still, so the words: "quit," "failure," "abandon," and "lack of will-power" are like choking on dust or chewing on gravel for me. After climbing mountain passes, often in bone-chilling early morning temperatures in stiff headwinds, biking over 300 miles with only three gears, and having now biked in my 50th state on this ride, it should be the summit of my bicycle touring experiences. It just doesn’t feel like it; perhaps when discontinuing any endeavor before you feel it is time will feel this way, whether working as an athlete, in secular life, or on a bicycle trip. Enough of the self-indulgent pity party; what does this have to do with Grace and its position in life? Through cycle touring material, I will place Grace up against some of the prevailing cultural norms I have experienced. You may have some of your own as well, and I hope this brings those norms to the surface for you to explore, too. The topics are arranged not by importance or to build to some conclusion or climax, but merely in the order they came to me – pretty much in the order they occurred on the ride. As someone with more local knowledge may disagree with my accuracy of local geography and culture, I appreciate that each reader will have varying reactions to the topics presented as well. I write not out of statistical or studied accuracy, but from what was true for me at the moment of the ride. As difficult as it was to discontinue the ride, I have found it equally difficult and challenging to claim a central place for Grace in my life.