Luck Has No Face

Photo by Quinten de Graaf on Unsplash

You can’t bargain with luck or argue with luck. Can’t go eye-to-eye or toe-to-toe with it. I throw on a favorite jersey, short and that comfortable pair of socks. There are a variety of socks I wear cycling and certain ones I wear most of the time.  Part comfort, part tradition. Here’s an embarrassing confession. Some socks feel luckier than others.

I’m rational. Intellectual. There’s no luck. So why, when my wife says, “Don’t get killed out there,” do I think I’m more likely to die today? How is it that a mug, a shirt, pair of socks, a pen go from utilitarian to idol? And idol it is.

“Who even comes close to being like God? To whom or what can you compare him? Some no-god idol? Ridiculous! It’s made in a workshop, cast in bronze, given a thin veneer of gold, and draped with silver filigree…” Giving luck a hat-tip belittles God and dehumanizes me. When I have a good day on the bike it’s because I’ve trained well. The muscle that turns the pedals, the blood carrying oxygen to muscle, the tires that hold air, the driver seeing me…all God.

Luck doesn’t have a face. Or heart.  I give to it a face like a little plastic tchotchke or imbue it with ‘energy’. How silly. We are impacted, and impact, the living. God has a face; bloodied and scarred. Friends and neighbors; faces all. If it feels like bad luck came calling; deal with the circumstances. When ‘good luck’ happens in bolt or streak; identify the reality of the event. Then celebrate with those individuals involved—face-to-face. Through it all give thanks to the God that blesses and makes His face shine upon us.

Finding Fulfillment In Being Wired Differently

If I used EPO or resorted to blood doping I would still be the slowest of all cyclists. Genes and nature have given me terrible lungs and a bad blood delivery system. I do still have a big ego though so when I am passed by fellow cyclists I want to give chase. I know though that I am limited by asthmatic lungs and unresponsive muscles.

I am wired differently than other cyclists. On a larger scale I am wired differently than every other human being. Which is why it’s great when authors and teachers give you tools but don’t tell you what you have to do. It’s what my favorite books on walking with Christ have in common: they lay groundwork but encourage you to listen to the Holy Spirit for direction. He will work differently with each unique person.

When I go out riding with friends I set this parameter: I am slow. If you want to race or ride fast do not ride with me. It is a truth I’ve had to adjust to my whole life that in any athletic event my asthma and my genes keep me slow. My head and heart say to push, go all out, fight to win but physically it’s not realistic. I must know myself and my own parameters.

When seeking God’s will for my life it must be within the boundaries of my distinctive strengths and my unique weaknesses. God will guide but it helps if I work within my boundaries (which according to Psalm 16 have fallen for me in pleasant places). Ego or not I am not an Annie Dillard or John Steinbeck. In moving forward in my unique giftedness I will be most profoundly fulfilled.

On Finishing Well

Early in his cycling career my friend Dee would go full speed out of the gates then crash and burn at the end of each long ride. Most of us look great coming out of the gate. Like Dee we look strong, fast and invincible. It’s not how we do in the first stretch that matters. What matters is how we finish.


I haven’t listened to my Jennifer Knapp CD for some time. It’s not that I don’t still enjoy her music. It’s difficult to listen to her lyrics knowing that she professes Christianity while at the same professing to be in a lesbian relationship. Though her previous music has great guitar riffs and god focused lyrics it is obvious that she currently puts little stock in a Bible centered lifestyle. Like my friend Dee she looked strong at the outset but may not finish well.

Looking at my life as a snapshot there would be many pictures where I would appear to be a pagan because my outward fruit did not match up with my heart. As Paul said in Romans 7, “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body…” The measure of my life and each of our lives will not be how we performed at the start or middle of the race. The final determination will be based on our finishing well.

New Fat Burning Diet

The new fat-burning diet: coffee and green M&M’s. That IS my diet; but it’s not fat-burning (as you might have guessed)---it’s fat producing. So I’m doing it. Yup. I’m going to buy a scale, one of the ones that measures % of body fat AND tells you your weight. And I’m going to try to not consume boxes of cookies and bags of M&M’s while I’m at home. I only have to lose a little. It’s the attempt at discipline that’s scary. (Kudos to those friends of mine who successfully fight this battle and continue to win).

I’m going to consistently ride (as I’ve been doing since March). I’m going to start doing intervals. Really. By December 31, 2007 my average riding speed will be AT LEAST 15 MPH! And to gain ground on the bike, there is one more thing that I must do.

Back and stomach strengthening. The back pain scares me. It reminds me that I’m only a short step away from significant pain, short-term paralysis, and possible surgery. So I need to do these exercises.

I’m worn out just thinking about it. I need a cookie.