Road trip.
Those two words can mean different things to different people. To a family in a minivan it can mean a weekend visiting grandparents. Certainly an adventure of sorts!
But to a biker, it speaks of adventure and risk. The road ahead is unpredictable for those of us who ride. Weather patterns can change our ride from pleasure to survival in a heartbeat. And the longer the trip, the greater the risk.
Recently I watched a documentary shadowing four men starting out from California and headed to the east coast on a 21-day journey, riding classic choppers. Not new motorcycles, but bikes created by each one of them and chopped down to the bare essentials.
I'm challenged by their willingness to leave everything, including the safety of what is known, to head out to the highways where any number of things can, and often do, go wrong.
But the open road was calling and they had to answer the call.
It made me think of the first disciples. Reading in Mark today,
"As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him." Mark 2:16-20 (NIV)
These men dropped everything and headed out on the road with Jesus for three years, and their lives were never the same. They left security behind for a chance to follow Jesus.
I wonder, if asked, what would we give up for that call?
