Sister Patti Tippetts
Primary Music Leader
My husband and I often enjoy taking our bicycles out riding. Here in our lovely desert it can be just too hot during the day to ride, so during the summer we take late evening rides mostly. Riding at night requires a good light for a couple of reasons:
The safety of yourself and those around you--Without a light, others on the roads and paths may not be able to see you. Sometimes the others out there are walkers, joggers, other bikers, or cars. Very scary if they don’t see you or you don’t see them!
So you can see the path--When riding around the neighborhoods of Washington there are usually street lights that are helpful. But I have found that many of them are far enough apart that between the lights I have not been able to see the road and have hit some unexpected potholes or bumps. However, if you are on a path, there is no other light than the moon…if there is a moon that night. And even then, a drifting cloud can block the light suddenly and without notice. Also, at night there can be wild critters on a path—skunks, porcupines, foxes, coyotes, owls, racoons, and even snakes.
One late afternoon as we glided out of the yard and headed out for a leisurely ride, I realized I didn’t have my headlight. I had taken it inside to replace the batteries and neglected to bring it back out to the bike. I was excited to be on our way and didn’t want to impede the adventure. So I rationalized that, “it is not dark yet and we will probably be back before it gets too dark. And besides, Lee has a head light so he can see the path, and a tail light so I can see him, and I have a tail light so others can see me. As long as I stay behind him, we should be fine.” And we were…until I got distracted.
We worked our way to the beginning of the trailhead, stopping to talk to some friends, checking in at my son’s house on the way, and pausing to take some pictures of the lovely sunset. Sunset? Yes, we had frittered away a little more time than intended before we even got to the trail. Evening had ended and darkness was falling fast. We paused before we proceeded on the path. I told Lee that I neglected to get my light and would need to stay behind him in order to see where he was going. He nodded and rolled slowly away. As I readied to follow him a bunny caught my eye. I watched him for just a moment and wondered why he was out so late. As I turned back to the path, I could just see Lee’s red tail light rounding the first of many twists and turns that were obscured by tall trees and many bushes and reeds on the winding canyon path. Oh my, I was going to have to hurry to catch up! I pumped my petals quickly and started around that first bend. As I rounded the corner and left the lights of the trailhead behind me, I realized immediately that I could not see Lee’s tail light…at all. He was now far enough ahead of me that I was in utter darkness. I slowed suddenly and tried to stay on the path. Eventually, I put one foot on the ground and came to a stop. I just couldn’t see.
I told myself to just give it a minute and my eyes would adjust. They did…a little. I could see the path right in front of me, but not much further. I moved forward very slowly. I was making minute progress and understood that with each moment my guiding light was slipping further away. As I contemplated turning back, I caught a glimpse of light flashing and zigzagging across the canyon walls and through the trees. In only a moment more Lee’s light was glaring at me-right in the eyes. I smiled as I considered that a moment ago, I was blinded by darkness and now I was blinded by a small light. It seemed funny and Ironic. I couldn’t help laughing. He hadn’t really gone too far before he realized I was not there and returned promptly to retrieve me. Whew! What a relief to see that small light headed my way.
As we work our way through the twist and turns of this life, sometimes encountering dark or scary moments, times when we just don’t know what to do, and perhaps even occasions where we feel lost and alone, we can remember that Jesus Christ will always be our guiding light. He will never leave us in the dark and He will always be there when we need him. It is possible, however, for US to neglect to take His light with us, to ignore His guidance, or to insist on braving the treacherous trails of life on our own. As we grow and learn, we need a good example to follow; we need a bright light to show us the path. Jesus will always be that light for us as long as we are willing to follow Him. And if we do get a little distracted along the way, He will wait for us to remember. And then when we repent, we can stay close to that light again.
I was so happy to see some of you last week in church! (Although I couldn’t see your smiles under the masks, I remember them!)
I love and miss each of you!
Perhaps you could sing Do as I’m Doing with your family and talk about following good examples, and being good examples.
Here are some more songs you could practice:
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