On Cheating, Religion, and What It's All About

This past Sunday I rode down to my last summer chapel for this year: St. Andrew's by the Sea in Rye.  Yet another church I had driven past, marveled at, and swore I'd visit someday.  Now I have visited it; this bike project is certainly meeting that objective.  That day there was a family gathering at my folks' house in New Castle, and I was going to ride over there directly from St. Andrew's.  Sarah and the kids would meet me there and I would get a lift back.  In the end it saved me about 30 miles.  I am somewhat ambivalent about doing these types of segments where I ride to the church but only part of the way back.  It feels a bit like cheating; somehow I feel like I really should be riding every mile.  On the other hand, no one is really keeping track, it doesn't detract from the experience as far as I can tell, and it allows me to fit this in with other family obligations.  So, I've come to the conclusion that I should lighten up a bit and take the lift when it is readily available.  I did it a few weeks ago when I rode to St. Paul's from Hopkinton and then got a ride home.  We have several other cheats planned.  Next week we are going to Hanover from Lyme where we will be vacationing; it'll be 20 miles round trip instead of 140.  The cool thing is that riding the shorter version will allow my whole family to join me, so the EBP will be a record 5 people that day.  The following Sunday I am going to ride from Lyme to Woodsville, only about 30 miles, but then ride the 100 miles all the way home to Manchester.  It'll take 70 miles out of what would have been a 200 mile journey.  So I guess a little cheating is OK; I've come to terms with it.

St. Andrew's is a beautiful stone chapel.  The interior beam structure and roof have just been re-finished and it looks stunning.  They have a tradition of having different musicians accompany the organist each Sunday.  Last Sunday it was cellist Dorothy Braker who who's sonorous music beautifully filled the sanctuary.  The Rev. Jay MacLeod was the priest for the day.  He hails from Bedford, England, but grew up in the Seacoast area and leads worship at St. Andrew's occasionally when he is in town.  He spoke of his parish in England, which is Queens Park, a racially and religiously diverse neighborhood of Bedford.  The various religious institutions there work together to minister to the local community.  One interesting program they do is a faith tour for local schools where they visit a Gurdwara (a Sikh place of worship), a Mosque, and All Saints Church.  Hopefully by creating familiarity and knowledge about these institutions they can break down some of the fear and suspicion that later leads to conflict.  He talked about this in light of the Gospel for last Sunday, the story of the Canaanite woman.  In this story Jesus ministered to someone outside of the Israelite (Jewish) community for the first time; very much taboo in that day.  This sermon resonated with me.  I have always believed that all religions are ultimately pursuing the same thing, call it God, call it Allah, call it enlightenment, call it peace, whatever.  We would be very well served if we could put our religions aside and realize that we are all on the same spiritual quest.  How can we as Christians say that the 3, 4, or 5 billion Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists are wrong?  The real mission is to convince people not to follow mindless religious dogma, or the mindless pursuit of stuff, both of which numb us to our true calling.  BTW - All Saints has a great website: http://www.allsaintsbedford.co.uk, I recommend taking a look.  You'll notice that Church is just a small part what they do.

Anyway, let's not get too serious.  This is just a bike ride after all.  And on that note, I'd love to have some company.  I would be happy to meet any and all who are interested in riding with me anywhere along the route.  If you are from one of the towns I am riding to, we could meet a few miles out of town and ride in together.  Or if your home is between Manchester and where I am going we could meet up and you could ride the rest of the way.  Whatever works for you works for me.  I can adjust my speed to match anyone's ability (provided you are not too fast!).  So, if you are interested, or know anyone that is interested, send an e-mail to bengenh+ebp@gmail.com.  I'll check it by mid-week so that we can make arrangements.  I am also trying to get better about publishing my schedule in advance so that people have time to plan.  Which brings me to:

The schedule:

8/21 - St. Thomas, Hanover (from and to Lyme)

8/28 - St. Luke's, Woodsville (from Lyme and to Manchester)

9/4 - St. George's, Durham (most likely from and to Pawtuckaway State Park)

And finally, the stats from this past Sunday:

distance: 61.5 miles

average speed: 17.7 miles / hour

total climb: 2200 feet

average heart rate: 143 beats / min

A really cool '69 Citroen wagon I saw
as I was leaving the church