Cadence

We were late to church due to the baby, but we arrived in time to take in a marvelous speaker. He analogized bike riding with life and I wish there was a recording or transcript so I could review and dwell upon it further. Since neither exists, here are some highlights that really spoke to me.

Cadence is the revolutions of the front sprockets--in cycling you want to maintain the same revolutions per minute regardless of terrain, which means shifting gears when necessary. To parallel this to something Eldest's swim instructor stated this week: each swim stroke has its own rhythm, once you hit that rhythm you can "just keep swimming..." In life, we want to maintain a cadence or rhythm as it makes for easier 'travels.' If we maintain a rhythm in our life, in our spirituality, we do not have to constantly reinvent the wheel--we can continue with efficiency, allowing us to take in the scenery and the companionship of others.

Hills and Water. In our geographic area you are always heading towards or away from water. It is always uphill after you cross the water. In the analogy, the water-crossing is spiritual growth. Whenever we grow spiritually we are faced with additional struggles, which encourage additional growth. When we crest the hill we start mastering that spot of growth, allowing us to coast or making it easier for us to maintain our cadence, and then we cross the water and start on another hill or another trial.

There was more, but these are the two points that really hit home for me. This week I want to work on maintaining a steady cadence and not be so random in my gear shifts.