Rich's Ride

When It’s All “Ized”

I spend too much time staring at a screen. Lots of advantages to this online revolution, but we all know there are downsides as well. I’m pretty good at blocking and scrolling past most of the really negative stuff, but I’ll admit that I get kind of sad when I see the angry, divisive comments […]

Half A Million

500,000. Individuals. With faces and names and families who grieve their loss. Half a million precious children of God. When they told Him of His friend Lazarus’ death, Jesus wept. Lots of our friends and neighbors are weeping right now. I hope they know we grieve with them. I hope they know Jesus holds each […]

Gnats and Camels

The FREEDOM TOUR is an endless progression of details. Spreadsheets to track donations. Coding for websites. Jersey designs. Turn-by-turn directions for hundreds of miles of routes. As warped as it sounds, I enjoy that stuff. I love the challenge of figuring it out, finding a better way, learning new things. And that’s good, because all […]

I Don’t Know

Three simple, powerful, humble words. As a new teacher I thought I was supposed to know it all. Nothing terrified me more than a question I couldn’t answer quickly, immediately, on-the-spot. Students wouldn’t respect a teacher who didn’t know stuff. That’s what I thought, so I did everything I could to pretend. Because nobody knows […]

Personal Responsibility

It’s all about making good choices. Personal responsibility, right? You and I are responsible for our choices and their consequences. Have you ever thought about the sense of privilege embedded in that so-called truth? I think a lot about the kids at the HOME OF HOPE. They, and their mothers, weren’t enslaved and abused because […]

Just Keep It Simple

I’m a fan of “simple.” Not simplistic, or superficial, or misleading over-simplification. As a leader/mascot on the FREEDOM TOUR team I always look for simple, straightforward ways to express why we do what we do. 2020 was a big lesson in trust. I was certain COVID would create a lost cycling season. Our team convinced […]

Theme Music

At the beginning, they play the theme music. If you’ve been here a while you know the FREEDOM TOUR has a wonderful theme song. If not, you’re in for a treat. Please enjoy this video as our 2020 FREEDOM TOUR team rides while our friend Kristen Orphan sings her beautiful version of “Anyway.” Can’t see […]

White Space

I like words. I like them so much that I tend to fill every available space. I want to explain, and then explain again. Recently my wise friend Ron gently reminded me of the value of white space. Ron’s correct. White space and margins leave room to take a deep breath, to think, to make […]

Knowing And Remembering

I follow the Auschwitz Museum on Twitter. Each day they commemorate an individual victim. A photo, a birthday, a name, an occupation. How they arrived at the camp. The (often tragic) outcome. This week marked Holocaust Remembrance Day. I tend to think of the holocaust as “really old history” until I realize many of the […]

Losing A Hero

I don’t use the word “hero” casually. Especially when referring to professional athletes, it’s easy to become hyperbolic when describing our favorites. In one case, it’s nearly impossible to overstate a man’s impact. Hank Aaron was a hero. Certainly among a small handful of the greatest baseball players of all time. Civil rights icon. Humble. […]

An Unexpected Sermon

Sermons come in many forms. Sometimes they’re in church. This week we all got to hear a wonderful message from Amanda Gorman, America’s first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate. Ms. Gorman read her poem THE HILL WE CLIMB at President Biden’s inauguration. If you didn’t hear her recitation, I recommend looking it up. The poem included […]

Everybody Knows Your Name

People want a place to belong. The TV show CHEERS became wildly popular around the simple notion that ordinary characters just wanted a place of their own, in this case a neighborhood bar. Norm even had his own stool. The chorus of the CHEERS theme song explains the entire premise of the show. Sometimes you […]

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