The Narrow Gate

First Lesson of bike riding: It's always easier to bike with the wind than against it.

You learn that one really quick.

Biking against the wind wears you out much quicker.  Your legs start hurting.  Your breathing begins to get harder.  Not only are you battling friction in the road, you are working against the movement of the air.

But once you turn around and ride with the wind, it's a whole other ball game.  You move faster as the wind propels you.  Your muscles don't have to work as hard.  Your breathing slows as nature helps you along.  It is exhilarating! 

Of course, when you ride with the wind, you don't get as much of a workout.  You don't exert your muscles as much, so they don't get as strong as you would if you rode against the prevaling wind.  Even though it technically might be more fun to go with the flow, one gets more long term benefits by riding against the current.

Makes me think of Jesus' comment about the narrow gate:

¹³“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.   Matthew 7: 13-14

I think about such things in regard to much of how the current U.S. cultural system works.  There are a couple of prevailing winds.  For our sake, let's call them liberal and conservative.  These two winds oftentimes blow in separate directions, and many people ride with each wind.  It's nice to be going with the wind feeling as though you are being propelled through life--riding a nice current of support from peers and those who agree with you. 

But is that the direction to which you and I are called?  Are we called to be one of the prevailing currents, or do we need to make it a point to swim against the stream?  For the narrow gate in this case might be charting a path that actually heads directly into both of those winds. 

OUCH!  Can you imagine the pain that would entail?  Can you imagine how narrow that path would be?

It would be interesting to see if such a thing were actually possible.