Clycling Clergyman The Sixth Installment: Faster than a Bus

This week I did my first expanded visitation on my bicycle.  I took some time as I planned my route via the bus system.  My initial plan was to put the bike on the bus part of the way, then ride the rest.  As I studied the bus route I noticed how easy it would be "cut the corner" on my bike and bypass the bus altogether. 

What happened?  An hour and twenty minute bus ride took only 30 minutes (I bet even less if the roads had been clear). 

I arrived at the assisted facility center and noticed one glaring missing item: a bike rack.  I suppose either the planners of the facility did not anticipate the residents to ride bikes or visitors.  I searched and found a light post and locked up the bike. 

I am curious now how many assisted living facilities for well-seasoned human beings contain bike racks?

Clycling Clergyman Fifth Installment: Just How Nutty I've Become

On Tuesday the weather dipped again below zero.  For a moment I thought about taking the bus rather than riding my bike to work, only for a moment.  That bus-consideration-moment, that was the old Trav thinking, the new Trav realized Tuesday could very well be the last sub zero day for a good piece (according to the extended forecast) and if I didn't ride then I would lose my chance.  That is how far I've come in five simple weeks of riding my bicycle to work. 

Special Monday morning update
This morning the greater Minneapolis area was graced with about five inches of fresh wet snow.  The accumulation allowed me, for the first time, to deflate my bike tires from 60 to 40psi and try the setting out.  Verdict: I couldn't peddle my way down the alley.  I walked it to the main road and peddled away.  Because the side streets were not plowed yet I stuck to the main roads, which meant all kinds of stuff: my back tire kept sliding, cars either came extremely close to me or passed as if I had the plague, and plow trucks - I was more than happy to get as far away off the road as possible for them.

If you've never ridden in heavy snow all I can say is that it is a total body workout!  You constantly have to balance your body and bike (great core burn) and you peddle like you wouldn't believe (great leg burn).  And, as long as cars are at a minimum, it is fun! 

why not cut up that old bible?

I believe it was in high school, yeah it was in high school, when someone, someone named Charlie Dodrill, if I remember correctly,  once told the story of a religious person cutting out every instance in the Bible where it talked about money.  And when he was done the Bible was nothing but shreds.  Later on I discovered that "the person" was Jim Wallis from Sojourners.  I never did investigate if Jim Wallis really cut up the Bible?  I dunno, but if you google Jim Wallis + Cutting Up Bible, lots of links appear.  If he did or didn't doesn't matter.  The story has bounced around my head for years, I've even used it as a sermon illustration.  But last Saturday I decided to see for myself.

Last Saturday evening while supper was finishing I took off the shelf an old battered copy of the RSV study bible (it is coffee stained and held together with duct tape), got a razor, and started cutting.

For the record I have studied the bible from an economic stand point for years.  I know the bible talks about money all over the place.  Something powerful, however, happened when I started cutting out the money portions and whole pages disappeared.  The more I read the harder it was not to see Jesus' (and Luke's) money metaphors, idioms, and usage.

At the end the gospel of Luke was not in shreds but it wasn't well.

I used the cut up example of Luke's gospel to talk about the Social Gospel and Wealth last Sunday.  For children's time I showed the kids at church what was left over from Luke, then I showered the floor with all of the cut portions.  The kids got it, and so did the adults...and so did yours truly!  After carrying the process with me all week, I think the exercise was more for me than anyone.  I needed to physically cut out the portions and see for myself just how much Jesus talked about economics.  I think I needed it as a justification for my ongoing commitment to the Social Gospel.  And I'm not stopping with Luke; I am going to keep cutting up the bible and then carry it with me as an example.

I think this would be a great way to start seminary, give every student an old bible and a small razor and tell them to get cutting.  I knew intellectually that Jesus talked about money, but to feel it in a tangible way was quite another matter.

The Cycling Clergyman: Fourth Installment

This week was a tragic week, Marcus Nalls, a 26 year old chef was struck and killed by a drunk driver near the Franklin and Harriet Ave.  intersection.  Mr. Nalls was doing everything right, he was wearing a helmet, had front and back lights and was still struck and killed.  I volunteered my efforts as a clergy person for the memorial bike ride.  Before going I took one last look at my front wheel only to discover a front wheel axle nut missing and a front wheel about to come off.  I ran down to Bikes and Pieces, he gave me the proper nut, ran back home and fixed my wheel but it was too late by then to attend the service.  I want to thank the organizers for taking the time and energy to organize such an event.  I hope that I and others do everything we can to make sure Mr. Nalls' memory is kept alive. 

The week of biking went well.  The missing axle nut is a witness to the beating a bike takes riding in the winter over the ice and snow packed onto the streets.  I am thinking of installing front shocks on the bike I am preparing for this spring and summer.  Every morning when it is bitter cold I have to talk myself into riding and not taking the bus.  I like riding but what a hurdle it is to mentally prepare myself for the cold rides.  When it is below zero and I am riding and before my body has yet to warm up I say a simple mantra to get me through, "Mother Earth, I hope you appreciate this.  Mother Earth, I hope you appreciate this..." 

I did, however, take the bus one morning.  I had to be in the Longfellow neighborhood and it was below zero.  When I arrived on Lake Street I hopped on board the same bus as last week.  When my stop approached I walked up to the front and informed the driver that I quoted him in my sermon last Sunday.  "How so?" he asked.  I recounted his words during the midst of the snowstorm, he offered to a questioning soon to be rider, "just get in, we are all behind. I'll get you where you need to be." He smiled and asked, "is that what I said?" Then chuckled and said "alright". Alright indeed.

Finally, probably my biggest concern about my bike experiment centered on conducting pastoral visits.  Would I be able to do them in a timely manner?  So far, the answer is yes.  Three new insights have arisen.  One, I am working more efficiently.  Not having a car has forced me to plan my days better.  Thus, more is getting done (from my perspective only).  Two, not having a car always available has opened the doors to others asking if I would like to borrow their car.  I tell them thank you and then invite them to join me on a visit.  Riding together then turns out into a neat pastoral visit/conversation by itself.  Three, I plotted all of the home bound/elderly members on a Metro Transit map and guess what?  Nearly all are on or near a bus line or bike path!  

Furthermore (I just love that word) I have been in the process of rediscovering and re-loving my commitment to of the Social Gospel (look for more in forthcoming posts). 

Boots Are Still in Style for Manly Footwear: The Cycling Clergyman Installment 3

CO2 savings for January: 52.8lbs.  I used the calculations available on the Metro Transit webpage.  Not bad considering I had to sell two automobiles, purchase a new van, get my bike ready for winter excursions, and had to figure out how the bus system in Mpls works.  February: who knows maybe a 100lbs saved!!!

This week, on Thursday, the metro area received 6 inches of snow during the morning rush hour.  I planned to ride my bike over to Peace Coffee on Minnehaha Ave but the roads were too bad and my biking skills aren't there, yet.  So I took the bus.  The schedule was all out of whack and nothing was near normal.  Rather than wait for my bus I took the first one I could, rode it to a known station on Lake St and then headed east to Minnehaha.  The experience provided the fodder for my latest insight: The Poor Are not Stupid!  I saw many people, on the fly, figure out the bus routes and get from point A to point B with speed and creativity.  I had a "smart phone", maps, and a college degree and couldn't figure it out.

When I finally saw a bus that looked liked it was going in the right direction I asked the driver if he was going where I was going, he said yes.  As the bus pulled up to a stop a would be passenger asked when the #X would be coming by?  The driver replied, "We're all behind, just hop on and you'll get where you need to get to."  I loved that.

Now onto the subject of my title.  I've been wearing a pair of LL Bean boots (blue rubber bottom, necessary boots for RI and New England).  I adapted them to MN by purchasing a pair of boot liners, they work great and are great biking boots.  But, I have to take a pair of dress shoes with me, or wear slippers at work, and they are a little bulky when pedaling.  So I wondered could I find a decent looking pair of hiking boots to wear while biking and not have carry an extra pair or wear my old ratty slippers at the office?  This week I noticed my favorite shoe store was having a sale, so I investigated hiking boots that could double as winter biking boots.  I found a pair of Merrell's that seemed to fit the bill.

Here was my criteria; they had to be warm (but not too warm, I want to wear them year-round), they had to look semi-nice (good enough to look semi-respectable with a pair of khakis), and comfortable.  So far, so good.

But wearing these boots has tweaked my fashion orientation.  I've given up on wearing suits, for the time being.  It is more simple to wear khakis, a clergy shirt, and my hiking boots.  Not exactly the look I developed over the past few years, but a look, however, I had in mind coming out of seminary.

And this reader has been the biggest surprise, the re-discovery of a past hope.  As I approached graduation from divinity school I had a vision of being a "green-justice-working-simple-living-contemplative-earthy-pastor" but something happened along the way that prevented me from fully living into this vision.  In many ways I placed that vision on the shelf, where it became dusty, another of my ideas never to find a proper home.  Instead, this idea was just lying dormant waiting for the right place and time to sprout.  That was nearly 14 years ago.  I've changed since then, as had my vision but I can now see the fruit of that vision becoming a reality.  And to think that I get paid, to some extend, to live out this vision too!

Cycling Clergy, second installment

Necessary Updates (CO2 savings will be forthcoming at the end of the month).

1.  I have ridden my bike in sub zero weather several times now.  First Surprise: how warm you get peddling a bike.  Second Surprise: the fraternity with other winter commuters, when we pass we offer a "may the force be with you" wave.  Third Surprise: wind has the amazing ability to find the slightest sliver of an opening.  

2.  The Bus is my friend.  My new rule of thumb: if school is cancelled due to extreme cold then I will take the bus.  I have taken the bus on three occasions.  I have a pretty good read now on necessary bus routes, transfers, and the like.  I have missed the bus on two occasions, throwing my timing off for the rest of the day.  I have had to run to catch the bus, throwing my breathing off for a good piece.  And I have gotten to know a bus driver.  

3.  Myths dispelled.  Many times I have heard callous folk refer to the poor as lazy.  Here is my response: You try standing in sub zero temps (possibly with inadequate clothing) and tell me that it is easy.  And you try standing, completely vulnerable, at bus stops waiting for a bus and tell me how easy that is!  My respect for the determination and toughness for the working poor who take the bus to work has greatly increased!  

4.  Community.  It occurred to me the other day that I could not attempt this experiment without the support and grace of the community I have in the Judson Memorial Baptist Church.  They not only encourage me, but also offer help upon help.  

5.  Style.  If one were to peruse my wardrobe and closely inspect my suits, all from Always-on-Sale-About-to-Be-the-Subject-of-a-Hostile-Takeover-by-a-Competitor, you would notice that they are getting near threadbare status (a little hyperbole there, but not as much as usual).  Which brings a certain decision to be made in the near future: invest in more suits or invest in clergy shirts?  I think I am going back to clergy shirts.  Not black but blue?  Why blue?  Baptist = Water = Blue, according to my reasoning.  I'm also curious what, if any, conversations emerge on the bus or on the street when I go back to wearing a clergy shirt, fair trade clergy shirts that is.  (I originally wore them because of the large Catholic presence in RI, when I wore a clergy shirt to the hospital I felt like Moses: doors opened, people smiled, and no one questioned my presence).  The shirt also reenforces my desire for a "public ministry" as a pastor.  

6.  Finally, Bling.  My bike needs a slogan.  I am in the process of rebuilding an old bike for my commuter bike but it will not be ready until spring.  In the meantime I keeping my Breezer (an older model they dont make any longer).  I am likening my bike to Pete Seeger's banjo.  Any ideas?

The Peddlin' Parson, or the Cycling Clergy, or the Velocipeding Vicar, or the Fast Footed Friar, or... Installment 1

This morning I mounted my winterized commuting bike and pedaled to work.  It was -9 outside, but no wind.  I figured if I could peddle to day, I could pedal any day.

How was it?  Well it was cold...at first, but once I got going I warmed up.  There were a few expected hiccups: my goggles iced up, my bones were rattled due to all the icy snow on the bike path, my digits took turn getting cold, and it was a slow ride, with studded tires, extra clothing, and books in my saddle bags.  Nevertheless, I did it.

So how will a pastor make his/her way with no automobile?  We'll see, but I'm sure I'm not the first.  For centuries pastors got by with just a horse.  And most cities were designed before the advent of mass automobile transportation.  But still...

Intentionality 

Thoughtful planning of pastoral visits.  I am planning on designating Wednesday as my day to do pastoral visits in areas outside of my comfortable bike/public transportation range.  I will simply have to plan my days better. 

What if there is an emergency?  I recall asking my father for a 4WD truck, he replied, "you know you really only need a 4wd a few times a year.  Is it really worth the extra cost and insurance just for at most 10 days a year?"  Although he made perfect sense I still wanted a 4wd (didn't get it). In my 14 years as a pastor I can only recall 2 or 3 times when I had to drop everything and run to be present with a someone or a family.  If there is an emergency, I can take the bus, hop on my bike, ride back home and get the van, I can ask someone to borrow their car, I can use one of the many car-sharing options:Car2Go, HourCar, ZipCar, CarShare or some other service. 

What happens if the van breaks down?  Well, that actually happened this week. The good old van is on the cusp of its usefulness.  This week the van's engine cooling system we kaput.  I feared this was the end of the ole mule but it was not.  A bottle of Bar's Leaks temporarily solved the problem.  This will enable us to investigate new van options.  And how did we get around?  A kind family loaned us their car for a day.  

Lastly, I cannot get over how giddy I feel.  Then again, this is just day one.  But I have a supportive congregation, community of year around commuting cyclists, and this article from Salon. 

Any other cycling clergy out there?

The True Costs of Having an Automobile

Again with a low Sunday (a work day for me) of -24 it looks like I picked the wrong week to sell my car and use my bicycle as the main mode of transportation.  But luckily, I live close to the bus line and the church is too; I can ride in comfort!  

Nevertheless, I am anticipating an increase in the daily availability of cold hard cash.  How so?  True, my wallet will not look like a George Kantanza wallet filled with money (rather than sugar packets, napkins, & etc.) but I do expect a savings each month.  I will no longer have to pay for auto insurance, gas, and maintenance costs.   I will have to pay for some bus tickets, bike maintenance, & tools.  But what was the true cost of having a car?

This week I calculated how much having an automobile cost me.  I bought the car I sold used for roughly $6,500.  Shortly afterwards and throughout the last few years I put roughly $5,500 in repairs for the car: new brakes, tires, battery, oil pan (nola roads), alternator, axle kits (nola roads again), and such.  Plus the maintenance, gas, and insurance costs made for an additional $5,000.  Which means the monthly average cost for having the car I sold on Saturday was $358.  The cost for my bike, commuting gear, and tools >$1,000.  Bus cards?  Possible rental car costs for special trips?

C02 savings - weekly totals forthcoming.

Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Quit...

On Saturday I sold my car.  To be honest I hated that car.  I was glad to get rid of it.  I was even giddy after I sold it.  I sold it because I hated it and because I am giving up my car for this year.  I will now be known as the peddling parson or something like that.  The Twin Cities has a nice public transportation system, extensive bike trails, and we have our other vehicle which the missus and I can share on the days I need to do visits and other crucial ministerial deeds.  Over the next few days I'll share my motivations.

But when the forecast consecutively reads -8, -10, & -22, and on a Sunday for that,  all I can hear is the replay of the character played by Lloyd Bridges in the movie Airplane.

A Service of Lessons and Carols - Post-Christmas Version

 Over the years I have experimented with a post Christmas version of Lessons and Carols.  At first it was basically a sly way (in my humble opinion) to have an off day without taking a vacation day.  Then again I have never been a big fan of the Lesson and Carols service taking the place of a Sunday morning or Christmas Eve worship service.  Don't get me wrong I love the service, I listen to it each year, and I have several copies of it on my computer.  What keeps the service in Cambridge fresh is the inclusion of new carols each year, sometimes up to three new commissions each year!.  But what congregation has the wallets to commission three new carols every year and a 32 member full-time highly trained choir and a full-time choirmaster and full-time organist to rehearse and perform them?  Not many.  Thus came the post-Christmas lessons and carols, a service of reflection on Advent and Christmas Eve along with in house musicians, new compositions, familiar carols, and Jesus specific lessons.  This year I was blown away by the level of creativity, love and energy from the service.  I offer it as a model for others to consider.  Enjoy.

First Sunday of Christmas

December 29, 2013 9:30 AM

PRELUDE “A Medley of Carols”
Polly Schrom, Jim ten Bensel, Eileen McLaughlin, Jim Wentink

LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES Scholz/Slominski family

MUSIC “The First Noel” Jimmi Langemo
and family members

*HYMN #597 “Shall We Gather at the River” Hanson Place (vs. 1, 2, 3)

FIRST LESSON Matthew 3:1-12 Anton Hesse
The Forerunner
page 2 red pew Bible, New Testament

MUSIC “The Chosen One” Doug Weatherhead

SECOND LESSON Luke 1:46-55 Travis Norvell
The Song of Mary, read responsively.
page 57 red pew Bible, New Testament
One even verses; Many odd verses.

MUSIC “Once Again My Heart Rejoices” Scott & Jane Ulring

THIRD LESSON Luke 2:21 Anton Hesse
The Naming of Jesus
page 59 red pew Bible, New Testament

ANTHEM “Sweet little Jesus Boy” Jim ten Bensel

*HYMN #148 “What Child Is This” Greensleeves

FOURTH LESSON Matthew 2:16-18 Anton Hesse
The Killing of the Innocents
page 2 red pew Bible, New Testament

MUSIC “Killing of the Innocents” Doug Weatherhead

MORNING PRAYER

CALL TO OFFERING

OFFERTORY “In the Bleak Mid-Winter” Gustav Holst

*DOXOLOGY Brian Wren/Lasst Uns Erfreuen
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures high and low.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise God, in Jesus fully known: Creator, Word, and Spirit one
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

FIFTH LESSON Luke 2:41-52 Travis Norvell
Jesus at the Temple
page 59 red pew Bible, New Testament

MUSIC "Christmas Spirit" Van Johnson

*HYMN #154 “Go Tell It On the Mountain” Jimmi Langemo

SIXTH LESSON Matthew 27:32-44 Anton Hesse
Crucified Like a Bandit
page 32 red pew Bible, New Testament

*BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE “My Favorite Things” Rodgers & Hammerstein Brett Hirsch

Next year, I would like to start a new carol contest with the winning carol making its debut on Christmas Eve, performed by the amazing Judson Choir.