麻豆约拍

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good Morning

This month, for the first time in fifteen years, I bought a new bike. My loveable steed Blue Lightning had served me faithfully ever since my paper round as a teenager, but having my squeaky brakes on full while going down Margate鈥檚 various hills had led to me sounding increasingly like an imperilled goose or swan, and I was finally ready to upgrade. As it had been so long since I last bought a bike, I asked around for advice. I read multiple blogs, messaged the keen cyclists that I knew, and used all of that combined knowledge to make the informed decision of picking one that was yellow, because that felt fun.

There was however only one place online that had it in my size, and they couldn鈥檛 deliver but said I could pick it up from one of their stores. While none of these stores were within a 100 mile radius of Margate, I happened to have an upcoming gig in Leicester so thought I could connect two wheels with one chain, as it were. A combination of delays and traffic meant I arrived at the shop five minutes before closing time, and my new bike鈥檚 maiden voyage was less of a leisurely cycle by the canal and more of a 3-mile off road adventure in the pouring rain on an unlit towpath.

And yet while I was slowly rolling through puddles that were too deep to put my feet down on either side, while I was following directions on my phone鈥檚 loudspeaker because it was too wet to operate the touch screen, and even while I carried my newly muddied bike up two flights of stairs to store in the function room of the pub while I performed, I found I was grinning the entire time. As Yellow Lightning now sits in my front room ready for its next ride, it feels like it has had a suitably epic origin story to get there.

Dear God, thank you for adventure. Thank you that it is often things going wrong that make for a better story. That the journeys we take can mean as much as the places we take them to. That something feeling fun is as good a reason as any to make an informed decision. We pray that you will be with us today in whichever journeys we take. That we will be able to grin our way through any unexpected puddles,and have a warm change of clothes when we eventually make it home.

Amen