Joseph J. Mazzella
 
Riding my bike
 

When I was a young boy I was always happiest on my bike. There were many places around my home that were traffic free and great to ride on. I can remember the wonderful sensation of flying as my bike zoomed down a hill and the wind blew on my face. It was one of those pure joys of childhood that you never forget. On my bike I felt totally alive and at one with the world.

 

It wasn’t always so great, however. I can remember one particularly bad accident on my bicycle. I was riding on a gravel road as a change of pace and didn’t see the pothole ahead of me. I hit it head on and was flying over the handlebars before I could stop. It was the days before bike helmets and my skull was bloodied up pretty badly. I was almost a half mile from home, but started to walk there anyway. It was a tough walk and I can remember sitting down to cry at one point, but I got back up and continued on until my Mom saw me and rushed me to the doctor. I came home stitched up while my brother dragged home my banged up bike. It wasn’t long, though, before I was happily riding it again. One wreck couldn’t keep me from that joy.

 
 

I guess that is the way it is with all of life. When you live and love the way God meant for you to your life flies along in joy, peace, delight, and oneness. There are times, however, when you let yourself get off the right road and you soon find yourself wrecked, hurt, and bleeding. It is times like these when you need to walk back home to God. It may be painful and you may even sit down and cry for awhile, but in the end it is up to you to take your battered heart, soul, and mind back to God and let Him stitch them up with His love.

 

You may always carry a scar or two from it, but you will soon find yourself on the right road again zooming along to even greater love, joy, giving, sharing, and wisdom. After all, it doesn’t matter how many times you fall off your bike, but rather how many times you get back on it.

  Joseph J. Mazzella
   
 
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