Need More Than a Helmet  

                                            Growing Up #6

   Just a short joy ride.

   It was 1987 and my life was okay, but with some sadness. 

   How about a little recreation on my used 400cc motorcycle? Having ridden it to work a couple times, about 80 miles, I rode it to Pittsburgh for keeps.

   That 4^th of July was my first opportunity to ride in three weeks. My new friend had offered her garage to me, not that she wanted to ride. 😏

   So, I left my apartment for a holiday meal with her relatives with time to spare, and hopped on the bike. I wore a helmet and proper clothing, chose a back road with little traffic. I knew the safety rules. What could go wrong?

   Well, first, I didn’t see the 45-mph speed limit and was doing 55. Then, on this road where I had never been, a curve that wouldn’t straighten out. I knew how to lean, but couldn’t make myself do it, watching the berm come closer and closer until…

   On gravel, the tires gave way and the bike and I tumbled over. I assumed no one was around, but a motorist was on me quickly and made me lie back down. An ambulance wasn’t far behind.

   They put my left arm in a cast, but the worst part was general trauma to my back. I was not good company at dinner that night.

   After four days of recuperating enough to return to work, I revisited the site and found my broken wristwatch. Then I heard a roar off to my right. A biker in black clothes on a black bike roared around the same curve doing, I guess, 70-mph. So that’s how you do it?

   Our enemy hides around the next bend of the road of life. We may wear the helmet of salvation. But we still must guard against potential harm beyond the obvious.

1 Peter 5:8  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

      Jimmy