A month ago, I finished a ride across America with sixteen other cyclists. You can read the archived blog I kept while on the ride here. In total, we rode more than 3,000 miles from the pier in Santa Monica, California to the shores of Delaware.
Though we only completed the trip weeks ago, it feels as though years have passed since we rode our bikes into the Atlantic.
Now that I am back at work, that is, traveling, in meetings, trying to get the book finished, I miss the days when all I had to do was wake up and ride my bike. I miss the challenge of wondering whether I was going to make it in that day, and of course I miss the team. We became a family on the ride. If you want to bond with your friends, do something very hard with them, something that you won’t be able to do alone.
I learned a great deal about America in the seven weeks we spent crossing the country. I learned America is good, not as wealthy as you might think, kind hearted and big hearted. I learned that small towns are dying and I wondered what we could do to bring them back. I learned we work very hard, and that our heart is still industry and agriculture. The generosity of the average American is astounding. The idea we are divided or opinionated is something propagated by the media to sell advertising, and adhered to by those I would consider to be ignorant. I don’t mean that as an insult, I simply mean ignorance in the way a child is ignorant of spelling before they learn to read. I think the inability to think rationally begins when we believe we know more than we are actually capable of knowing, and do not think objectively because our identities are tied to our ideas.
We went to church nearly every Sunday on the trip. The people, especially the staff, the pastors and their families were unbelievably kind and thoughtful. They served us when we were very tired and couldn’t really give them much in return. I saw Christ in them, that is for sure. I thought hard about how we do church in America, an idea I honestly haven’t given much thought to in years. I started to find it odd that the central piece of every church service we attended was a 40-minute lecture. It made me wonder if the evangelical church didn’t believe the way to approach God was through the intellect. I wondered about Anglican and Catholic tradition, both of which have short sermons that one would hardly think of as the center of the service. The main aspect of both those services is the Eucharist. Nevertheless, I loved the people in the churches we visited and it was especially great to visit so many small churches in so many small towns.
When I got back from the trip, I put this little video together as a way of saying thank you to the Ride:Well team. The team saw it weeks ago, but I wanted to share it with you. I think it sums up the way I feel about the team and the way I feel about the trip very well. I needed the trip to help me remember how much i love to….
As simple as this post was, I found it very encouraging and uplifting. What you learned about America was very fascinating…
Thanks for sharing this, Don!
Greg Loesch
http://greg-loesch.com/blog
Beautiful stuff, man! Beautiful stuff! Your heart inspires me.
First comment!
(now I go to read the post
)
…nice, as in very!
…we still need to know where to send your “getting later” bday card
…or do you want us to save it for next yeaer?
Your ride sounds like it was fun. Even more so sharing it with friends. Whenever I think of my good friends, I keep remembering what George Elliot wrote: “Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.” Much like Jesus really…
Great post, great video. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Don,
I could not agree more on your comments about the media propogating ideas that just simply aren’t true, or else aren’t as widespread as they insist. My hubby and I just spent a month in Africa (and a bit in Europe) and we did not see the “America: the evil empire” attitude that many expected us to. Instead we met Africans from all over the continent and Europeans who were respectful and interested in our nation. It could be a different reaction in other regions of the world, but the average citizens of the countries we visited were not at all hostile toward the US. Thanks for your great insights, as always.
Rosie Thomas has such a beautiful voice.
I loved what you said about tying our identities to our ideas, and your insight on the average American. It gives me a lot of hope.
very cool.
I’ve been worried about America and the state of the church for awhile now, but your post gives me hope.
Wow, were you filming while you were riding? There a couple shots of people peddling or tires on the road; if I were looking through a camera at someone’s peddling feet, I’d probably crash!
Great video and post. Thanks.
First of all, I know what its like to be together with so many people and missing them afterwards. I went to one of the best summercamps this summer. It was just teenagers coming to together to worship God and we were truly a community. I was reminded of you, when we spontaneously got into this worship session at the water park! It was truly God there. Whenever we gathered there was laughter and joy. There was this one time after dinner that we started singing different songs and people gathered around and we sang for almost an hour! Worship and fellowship with brothers and sisters and God does not have to be in a building or in a particular setting. It doesn’t have to be worship, announcements, sermon, home. It can just be spontaneous. I feel there is power in that. There is true power in community and I feel that is what Jesus was about.
And you experienced that community so when its over its like, “NOOO” lol.
The video is beautiful. Who sings the song?
Sincerely,
Guimel
“I have since wondered what a service would look like if there weren’t a long lecture in the middle…”
That barking “amen” you just heard was me.
I have yet to figure out what to do with this “show” we call “church.”
great video!
“I think the inability to think rationally begins when we believe we know more than we are actually capable of knowing, and do not think objectively because our identities are tied to our ideas.”
thank you for saying this…a breath of fresh air.
america is a fascinating, challenging, beautiful, and humbling place. thanks for the reminder!
~tonyalynne
Don, why didn’t you invite me to ride with you? I like to ride. I believe in Blood:Water. I can bond with teammates. I am crushed. Heartbroken. Devastated that you left me behind. Oh, you don’t know me? Well… That is such a tiny little dilemma. A non-issue really. You should have called.
Seriously, amazing. Bravo!
Your post make me miss home in the midwest (Kansas) with simple, hard-working people and wide open spaces.
I am a pastor in South Carolina and empathize with your disappointment that the church sings about Jesus but doesn’t mention him. I just went through a battle at church where I was told my preaching was bad because I spent too much time talking about Jesus and not enough about things that acutally help. They wanted sermons on things like how to stop smoking. (sigh) Although I took this comment as a plea for more practical implications of meeting Christ, and continue to make him central to my preaching, it was a discouraging blow.
We’ve got a lot of work to do in the church.
Wow Don! You brought me to tears! What a blessed life you have. I homeschool my 4 kids and I recently took them on a 6 week camping road trip. We traveled the 13 western states in the US. I knew you were also on a long hard trip across the US and I thought about you and prayed for you often. I have had many of the same feelings and thoughts about our country along the way. I was a woman traveling by myself with 4 kids and people were sooo unbelievably thoughtful and helpful. I love the video!!! Thank you for sharing!
I’ve read all your books and loved them except for a few comments that i thought were somewhat left-wing. fox news is fair and balanced and have compared it with other news commentors and find that they, too, (sometimes) are fair and balanced. I chose not to throw the baby out with the bath water. i’m not an eloquent writer and not exceptionally intelligent so you could probably slam me down quite easily on my comments towards the democratic party which is where you seem to lean. would you email john Mccain, sarah palin or pray at the RNC? just curious. I do agree that we cannot legislate sin but to allow women to kill their children, sorry, don’t agree. we do need laws. our heavenly Father has them and for our own good and happiness (i’m talking new testament causing us to be free) i also believe that both parties of government need to change their act in certain areas but too much government concerns me. i was a single mother of two, raised my children on my own working at a bank with no child support and never asked for welfare. they are all grown now and have children of their own. we have become a welfare country and it scares me.
Beautiful summary. Great musings on America and church communities. Perfect song for the video!
don, i’ve been feeling this way for a while now. larry and i have gone back to a liturgical church for that same reason. when did we come up with this new liturgy of 45 minutes of music, announcements, and a 45 minute sermon? it’s the college lecture creeping in on church. it’s a modernist idea that we can only apprehend god through our left brain reasoning. reason is part of it, to be sure but the emphasis ends up on the performance of the musicians and the pastor. church becomes a consumer product and we don’t participate. An old friend calls it “The Sunday Show.”
i am a member of a couple 12 step programs. It too has a liturgy if you will. readings and announcements. but there’s a different speaker every time, just a regular person sharing their experience. and then, get this: a half hour is dedicated to anyone who wants to speak for 3 minutes. Imagine if church had that in its liturgy? cut down the sermon and leave a half hour for anyone to get up and have three minutes to share what’s going on with them. Yes, we use a timer. imagine that. participatation. Honesty and vulnerability. On Sunday.
wow that looks like an amazing trip! i hope i get to do something like that sometime…by the way, your video-taping skills are insane–i for sure would have died taping while biking.
Wow, thanks that was awesome. It was such a pleasure following you guys along. You allowed us to form a realtionship with the group too, it just wasn’t F2F. It was a blessing.
Peace,
Wendy
Wow, thanks that was awesome. It was such a pleasure following you guys along. You allowed us to form a relationship with the group too, it just wasn’t F2F. It was a blessing.
Peace,
Wendy
well done on the video….thanks for sharing the adventure….and I’ve wondered too what church would be like without the lecture….so if you come up with any ideas on ushering us into an experience with God be sure to let us know…..
i drove around the country for quite some time, for no particular reason. just to think and see stuff. it was really amazing, and everything you had learned from your cross-country trip was striking to me, when on mine. how wonderful. i wish everyone would drive around the u.s. just to see what’s there. to make state lines a little less arbitrary. although, i wish i had gone on that adventure with other people, that wish plagued me even then.
that was beautiful!
Mr. Miller,
Probably not wise to mention my brain’s lack of ingenuity, but never the less I must say I am quite impressed! I enjoyed the video of your travels very much and your camaraderie with your friends encourages me to be more thankful for my own.Thank you for sharing!
Wow! For some reason when you mentioned riding across America my brain processed riding on a motorcycle
God Bless!
Dear Don,
wish i coulda been there with you guys. i would love to do something like that for something like that. my father in law just did something like this for a homeless ministry for his church. He road his motorcycle across all 48 states in 8 days. you can check that out here: http://www.floodbako.com/events/48in8.html
pretty awesome.
talk to you later
See I was going to be quite cynical and comment that perhaps you found the church people so kind and thoughtful because of who you are (after all you are somewhat of a celebrity).
And then you had to go all Rosie on me. With a little Sufjan and Denison thrown in for good measure.
Now I’m feeling convicted for my meaness.
Dangit.
Don! I found your blog via LJ’s and just wanted to share a little bit. I started going to Quaker meeting when I moved to Portland because I was done with the structure of traditional church but still craved a spiritual home and community. Gathering to worship in corporate silence is a truly powerful experience, and I have been so blessed by the community there. You should join us sometime when you’re in town 10:30 Sundays at 44th and Stark. Hope you’re well!
This video had me cryin in my coffee this morning – what a great memory to carry around with you.
I loved your comment about bonding with your friends by doing something hard with them, something you can’t do alone. Amen, brother.
Way to go, Don! BTW- loved your books “Blue Like Jazz” and “Searching for God Knows What”. Please keep asking the tough questions and letting us eavesdrop on your conversations. It’s so cool to read, contemplate, and get a good giggle at the same time!
Loved the video! Makes me want to take off somewhere new…
great stuff. did you camp? have you been?
can i use your pack before the rains hit? email!
also. psalm1and2@gmail.com
Don
thanks for your amazing insights and the keen ability to look into the heart of a matter. Thanks for riding with me,behind me,in front of me. I listened to you so many times speak of what you have written here and watched people respond to your words. I found myself looking forward to your every opportunity to speak. So much of what you said made my ride easier to bear.It would have, for me, been much more difficult without you there on that crazy white bike.
Your friends are precious! Wish I could have been along for the ride!
Have you been back on your bike?
Great song selection!!
Ambien side effects….
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Hey Don, I went back a couple of years to this article to comment on an article that you’ve written this week. Why? This is the best chance I have to send you a critical email that will be seen by very few (hopefully none but you), so here goes.
A friend of mine from Portland was on the phone with me yesterday, and one thing we noted was how we kind of felt weird when we read your article about your horseback riding, wine-sipping adventure with a rich guy and all his successful friends (which you, tongue in cheek, acknowledged being one). I think it stood out, in part, because in the last couple of weeks, you’ve also included one-liners like, “My friend is a rock star,” and “I stopped by the White House the other day.”
I offer this as feedback from someone who regularly reads your blog: I understand that this is your life, and celebrity begets experiences like these, but please know that highlighting these exclusive experiences – even talking about $3000 personality test you took – tends to make people see you as aloof, out-of-touch, and well, enviable of course. Do what you will with that. Thanks for writing good stuff.
Josh,
Thanks for hiding this but there was no need. I’m not sure what to say. I think a lot of people struggle with this sort of thing when they have a unique life. The truth is, life is just life, and you forget that people believe that they think you have it better than them. I really don’t. So it’s either not talk about events and pretend they don’t happen, which is inauthentic, or just talk about them and express how blessed you feel. Does that make sense? So I’m not sure how to avoid your perception. But it’s something to think about for sure. The reality is, everybody eats and craps and hates things like their back hair. Going to the white house is not very exciting, and everybody has ridden horses. It just isn’t perceived that way.
Yeah, I hear you. Frankly, I’m glad we’re talking about this in the two-year-old time machine, because that one time we talked back and forth, it was kind of weird when the lady was like, “Hey, it was fun watching you two go at it! Go godly men!”
You say, “Going to the White House is not very exciting, and everybody has ridden horses.” Buddy, the first time I went to the White House (I saw a Marine One landing), five out of the next seven nights, I dreamed about it. I still talk about it to this day with great excitement. And I still remember the name of that horse I got to ride at a Christian camp back when I was 11 (it was called “Shiloh”).
The point is that your great strength is your ability to relate, and you might want to consider how “(yawn) So I was at the White House the other day – ho hum” can convey a sense of distance, aloofness, and being out of touch. Again, I respect most of what I’ve seen here and all I’ve read in your books thus far. I’m definitely not trying to A-bomb you with criticism. I just wanted to, as much as possible, provide a view from outside the northwest gate of the White House. Thanks again for your stuff. I’ve learned a lot from watching what you’re doing.
sorry man, i’m not going to pretend to feel something i don’t. i’d rather lose readers than become a politician. i share the good, the bad, the ugly and the great. i’d love to get to the point where i love people, but don’t strategize how they think of me.
Me too. I go to a church in DC with A LOT of single people, and I’m happily married. Perhaps my comment to you would be the equivalent of you posting on my blog and telling me to tone down all the talk about marriage, that it’s making all the single people feel left out.
Don, you have to read this post by my liberal blogger buddy, sharing his take on faith and, specifically, Christianity. I have a feeling you’ll appreciate it. http://spiritualklutz.blogspot.com/2010/07/dropping-no-anchor-enjoying-view.html.
[...] wrote about his trek a couple years back and I swooned and swayed at his thoughts and plots about the sweat and friends [...]