I bicycled to work but after work I stayed at that end of town so I could volunteer at a youth program at church, and since my employment and church were only a few blocks apart but my home is eight miles away it made sense to just hang around for a couple of hours instead of bicycling home and bicycling back.
So after work I rode over to the church which was locked, I was not surprised since I was over an hour early- and no one ever gets to church that early. I found a nice piece of lawn in the shade at the side of the building where I lay down and lazily watched the clouds drift by. I was able to admire the bright white of the steeple against the blue sky. The mild October breeze cooled the air nicely and blew slowly spinning leaves out of the trees. I even dozed off for a while.
I was thinking about the program at the church and my part. It was nice to take some time and go over my task and consider some of the things I was to do. It was good to take the time and get ready like this and I felt my part in serving would be better off for the time of reflection, meditation, and planning.
Someone coughed in the trees and I turned to look. Under the trees was a family of deer. The mother was guarding the three young from the unwelcome bicyclist. She coughed or barked or maybe both at once and raised her forleg. After a moment's hesitation she stomped it down with a thump on the ground. Clearly an act of aggression, meant to intimidate me and send me and my bicycle on our way. I did not move and watched her repeat this gesture several more times, as she kept her eyes fixed on me. After a few minutes she turned and strode into the trees with her tail flicking as if to say some final word like "You got away with sitting there this time, you might not next time."
Riding a bicycle as a lifestyle causes you to slow down and make choices. If I was driving a car I would have raced home and rushed back later I would have hurried through the day, hurried through my planning and not done as well as I did at our church outreach. Nor would I have had the opportunity to come to terms with one of God's creatures in just the same way.
So after work I rode over to the church which was locked, I was not surprised since I was over an hour early- and no one ever gets to church that early. I found a nice piece of lawn in the shade at the side of the building where I lay down and lazily watched the clouds drift by. I was able to admire the bright white of the steeple against the blue sky. The mild October breeze cooled the air nicely and blew slowly spinning leaves out of the trees. I even dozed off for a while.
I was thinking about the program at the church and my part. It was nice to take some time and go over my task and consider some of the things I was to do. It was good to take the time and get ready like this and I felt my part in serving would be better off for the time of reflection, meditation, and planning.
Someone coughed in the trees and I turned to look. Under the trees was a family of deer. The mother was guarding the three young from the unwelcome bicyclist. She coughed or barked or maybe both at once and raised her forleg. After a moment's hesitation she stomped it down with a thump on the ground. Clearly an act of aggression, meant to intimidate me and send me and my bicycle on our way. I did not move and watched her repeat this gesture several more times, as she kept her eyes fixed on me. After a few minutes she turned and strode into the trees with her tail flicking as if to say some final word like "You got away with sitting there this time, you might not next time."
Riding a bicycle as a lifestyle causes you to slow down and make choices. If I was driving a car I would have raced home and rushed back later I would have hurried through the day, hurried through my planning and not done as well as I did at our church outreach. Nor would I have had the opportunity to come to terms with one of God's creatures in just the same way.
