I was just getting into my last entry last night when Maria announced dinner was ready. I don't like to allow food to get cold, even salad (cause we usually stick steak in it instead of croutons), so I made my blog priority number two. After dinner I didn't feel like writing. So I am conlculding this today.
I suppose I was trying to make a connection between becoming a father and downgrading the pedals on my bike. The point being that I no longer have time to make 3 or more changes of footwear everytime I ride my bike and keeping my body free from injury is more important now than ever before. I can't wait to play catch with my little guy, or chase him around a park. And since this is some years in the future, I gotta keep myself intact. I was a happy baby (that smiling baby above is me). I have great parents to thank for that, two people who always placed my welfare before thier's. I just hope I can do the same. The pedals are just a metaphor.
I am keeping the SPD pedals and shoes. It is not too difficult to install them back. But for now, I think the regular pedals cover my needs adequately.

Change happens and most of the time we are unaware that it has occured. A couple of weeks ago I noticed how sick I was of my SPD pedals( a bicycle pedal that requires the user to wear special shoes which have a clip on the bottom which clips onto the pedal) : Always having to carry around extra shoes, always worrying about clipping out at the next stop. The inability to clip out has never been a factor in any of my falls. Still, I believe I can mitigate my injuries in a fall if the possiblity of catching the fall on my feet is possible. SPD'S can hinder this. The argument for SPD'S is that SPD pedals create a sense of efficiency that standard pedals cannot. With SPD pedals you push a pedal down with one foot and pull the other up with the opposite foot. At the risk of being labeled a non-serious biker, I purchased and installed regular pedals soon after. Truth is I love riding a bicycle but I just don't have room in my life for "extra shoes". The time I was spending going from sneaker to SPD shoe was becoming cumbersome. Also, I felt vulnerable having my leg be one with a bicycle pedal. I have to limit my vulnerabilities now:

I am going to be responsible for another human being now. AND, THAT IS CRAZY! Not bragging or anything but I have become pretty good at keeping my world under control. Yeah, sometimes one of the tires on my bike needs trueing or I get a flat. But a BABY BOY?! What kind of variables will that present?

food for thought

http://www.thejesuschristshow.com/

whenever I get a chance I like to listen to this show on 640 kfi. the show is hosted by a man referring to himself as Jesus Christ Your Holy Host. That statement borders on blasphemy, actually it is blasphemous. However once I got over the shock of someone referring to himself as God's Only Son and started to listen to what he (He) was saying, the show developed an appeal for me. The host ( I am not going to capitalize it cause I don't feel comfortable with it, a case of hardwiring I guess) takes calls from people dealing with real world issues and attempting to make spiritual sense of events that can range from personal to global. Jesus' answers are aligned with how the Bible would answer the issue. A majority of the time I concur with the host's position. Surprisingly, his position is not, as one would assume, preachy or defined by dogma. He cites scripture but does a good job of making it accessible to someone not as well versed in it. If you ever get a chance check it out, it is on Sunday mornings from 7-9 on kfi, 640 on your am dial (am dial, WHAT'S THAT?).
Today someone called and wanted to speak about the catastrophe in Haiti. The question posed was something to the effect of, "does God allow things like this to happen in order to punish, or is He just letting creation fly on autopilot?" I immediately thought about destruction in the Bible; the tale of Noah or of Sodom and Gomorrah (spelling?). The host was quick to point out that Earthquakes are not in and of themselves bad things. Earthquakes are what cause most geographic phenomena like mountains. Earthquakes are the attempt of the physical Earth to establish tectonic balance, a balance that never lasts because change is the nature of Creation. He pointed out that most of the tragedy in an Earthquake comes from things falling on top of other things. I felt that a finger was about to be pointed at this point but that's where he left it. The gist of the argument was, to quote the bard, "nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so." Tragedy happens not to punish but because things move on this planet and sometimes the movements affect our lives. As to the question of is-creation-on-autopilot? Well, whether it is deliberate or not, we learn much from tragedy. As we see all around us there is a Samaritan spirit evolving. It is difficult to find a person who doesn't wish to help in one way or another. In times like this we learn about how much in debt we are to one another, that's something an absent God could not teach.
For me it is very difficult to see the images of the destruction in Haiti. I can't help but think what if someone I loved had been there. What if that was me? Life is truly a precious thing, give thanks for yours and pray for those not so lucky.