“Help me understand hope.” It was a couple of years ago. Hers were those “friendly eyes” a speaker looks for in the audience, belonging to the handful of folks who let you know the message is heard. Now she wanted to go deeper. “I know what hope means…in my head, ” she said, “but I can’t […]
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Truth and Truth And Post-Truth
What’s the truth? The tinge of arthritis in my shoulder doesn’t care if I believe it’s there. The doc showed me proof, right there on the x-ray in black-and-white. The objective, observable, scientific truth is that I have a bit of arthritis in my shoulder. I can acknowledge it and deal with it, or lie about it and […]
Continue readingDreams Are Messy
If it’s worth the effort, it’s likely didn’t happen the way you imagined. God-sized dreams are generally messy, difficult, and scary. It takes courage and trust to look beyond challenge to see opportunity. I love this video! I admire the sort of creativity that can capture and express an idea so powerfully and succinctly. I invite you […]
Continue readingGrateful To Be Together
You and me. I’m thankful for us. Together, on this remarkable journey of hope.
Continue readingExploding My Brain (Part 2)
Last time I recalled a college professor’s lesson that exploded my brain. I wasn’t exaggerating. I thought college would be a place to learn math and physics. I didn’t expect some random psychology lesson to to present an idea so completely new that I had no prior learning to which I could connect it. The […]
Continue readingWhen A Simple Lesson Changed Everything
Where were you the first time your brain exploded? I was a college freshman during the winter of 1969-70. In one of those huge psychology lectures the professor showed a slide, a photo of a Marine ROTC student in full dress uniform. The reactions were immediate and visceral. Babykiller! Murderer! Hero! More guts than any […]
Continue readingWhen You’re Too Slow
My first handcycle rides were slow. We’re talking an embarrassing kind of slow, the kind of slow where the neighbor ladies pushing kid-carriers sometimes passed me. And that’s when I was moving at all and not stopped to rest my weak, skinny arms. I was really, really slow. My fastest ride during the summer of […]
Continue readingWhy We Need Bridges (And Why They Scare Us)
I’m fascinated by rivers, paths, and bridges. Aside from the people I encounter, rivers, paths, and bridges are consistently the most interesting and inspiring features of nearly any bike ride. In nearly every setting there seems to be some sort of unique charm. This captivation sort of evolved within my parallel interests of cycling and writing. […]
Continue readingHow To Design A Self-Driving Car
I think a self-driving car would be cool. In college I commuted with an electrical engineering student. Jack was convinced that we’d see self-driving cars within a few years, and he spent countless hours telling me how they would work. I don’t recall details, but I remember there were two notions about guidance. I’m over-simplifying, […]
Continue readingFake Dream Or Real Community?
Doing a big, crazy, impossible bike ride taught me something about following dreams. For perhaps three years I cranked around the same familiar streets and trails near my house, imagining what it would be like to do a cross-country ride. I planned and schemed and visualized. Eventually I even started talking about it. I loved it, […]
Continue readingMonte Puts Things In Perspective
Monte doesn’t get concerned about elections. He also doesn’t fuss about age, beauty, money, or most of the other stuff his human friends get twisted up about. So I thought, on this day when there’s so much angst, we could all use his wisdom from three years ago. # # # On this trip people […]
Continue readingCubs Win! The Power Of A Story
You probably heard–the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. After 108 years of futility, of being the Lovable Losers, of Wait Til Next Year, they finally won. I’m sure you heard about it, even if you don’t follow baseball, even if you don’t like sports, because the Cubs’ victory was about something much bigger than […]
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