Back in the early 80’s when I tested for my motorcycle endorsement in California, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. The written exam was not too difficult as I remember, and the riding portion of the test was even easier, requiring so little that it would be put to shame by today’s improved standards of required skill demonstration, at least up here in Oregon.
I didn’t know any different at the time, and so, off I went with my license and gradually learned, by practice, trial and error, and talking with others, how to actually ride a motorcycle. There was no internet or YouTube videos to teach us skills.
One of the most basic of riding skills we all learned is counter-steering: push left to go left, and push right to go right (if you’re not a rider, this phrase means one steers the handlebars right when we want to turn left, and steer the bars left when we want to turn right). It’s what I had intuitively been doing all my life on a bicycle, but I never thought about it, and certainly wasn’t aware of what I was doing. I just rode, and the bicycle turned.
This is true on our motorcycles as well, but because of the increased speeds and more gradual turning of the bars than on a bicycle, it has a different feel, and for many beginners the brain tells us sometimes at anxious moments that we should instead turn the bars in the direction we want to go, not in the opposite direction. Once, when I tried to explain counter-steering to a friend of mine, he wasn’t convinced and tried to argue that on his bicycle he did not use counter-steering. I told him he was wrong, and that two wheel vehicles turn by leaning, or falling, and just the slightest pushing of the left or right side of the handlebar causes the bike to then lean, or fall, into its turn. Forgive my crude and limited understanding of physics and vocabulary here, I only know that it works.
My interest is not in trying to give riding tips or lessons, as most of you know all this and could probably explain it better than my quick attempt today. Instead, my fascination is the unexpected way that riding a motorcycle illustrates and reminds me of certain truths about life, or more specifically, how I am living my life.
Here is where things get good, or perhaps, for some, you might think here is where Nick should just stick to motorcycles. If you’ve read enough of my entries, you’ll see that you’re reading someone who loves motorcycles, moto touring, dirt-biking and all things related, but also that I was an ordained minister for years, and for me, all subjects in some way eventually point to larger affirmations or questions of life and faith.
Thus, I often find myself on a ride thinking about the deeper realities, such as how so many things in life, like counter-steering, are counter-intuitive. A simple example would be conversation. If I want to be a good conversationist, I might think I should turn the handlebars left and just start talking more and more. Experience has shown me that instead I should turn the bars right and practice the skill of really listening to others and asking questions. As I listen, the bike will start to fall into its left turn and conversation will round the corner with it.
Of course, there are more interesting parallels to consider, as well as those of deeper meaning. On the day this counter-steering thought came to me I was enjoying a spectacular ride and I was reminded of the Bible verse Proverbs 14:12 that says, “There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it only leads to death.” There are a lot of directions my mind could have gone with that, but I found myself asking, “what is the way that I am going, and where is it leading me?” and “what are the things I’m seeking or pursuing?”
I have found that my instinct is to try and be strong, self-sufficient (not ask for help) and to control all things around me. I will be the master of my domain, as they say. That may seem to work for some, for a while, but if I’m being honest I know that I am not always strong enough in and of myself, and self- sufficiency is eventually not sufficient, and while self-discipline and structure are good and needed, trying to control all things around me is like trying to capture the air.
God has been showing me my whole life (when I’m willing to see and listen) that His ways are usually upside down to the ways of our world, like some great divine counter steer, and the path to abundant life is not the way we often think. Yet how easily I am entertained, distracted, or sucked into the race our world is offering.
Thus, the great counter-steering words for me are surrender and receive.
- Surrender my limitations and understandings to receive God’s unlimited grace, knowledge and peace.
- Trade my small strength for God’s incomprehensible power.
- Surrender my pride and attempt at control or favorable reputation here, for significance and love far greater than I could ever earn or gain because it’s how God already sees us.
- Surrender is the path for me, because surrender was the path Christ himself took, giving of himself and his life for me.
Crazy as it seems, those are things I think about sometimes when I’m on the bike, enjoying the beauty of this world, a world that didn’t just come out of nowhere. All of this reminds me of a poem of sorts, a Puritan prayer from an old collection titled “The Valley of Vision” that describes the best counter-steer I know, the unexpected humble and beautiful way of life that God demonstrated in his own flesh for us.
Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths, but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountain of sin I behold your glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.
