Slowing Down

Undeniably speed (as in velocity, not narcotic) is one of my favorite things. The sensation of going fast in virtually any form has an addictive quality for me that it might as well be narcotic. There is something about feeling my body moving against gravity and air that makes me never feel like fast is fast enough.

I suppose the fastest I've ever gone is in an airplane, but the trouble with that is in a pressurized tube at 35,000 feet in the air, there are not enough significant points of reference to appreciate the speeds in excess of 350 mph. The ground is visually too far away, the air is locked away (for obvious reasons -- you can't exactly stick your arm out the window like you did as a little kid in the car with your Dad driving and feel the wind against it) and "fast" just never really feels "fast" unless you're on take-off or approaching landing.

I have many memories of speed experiences of which I'll reserve the actual speeds for some of those occasions on the grounds it might incriminate me. But... 58 mph on a racing bicycle in the peleton while descending a mountain pass during a particular road race in central California was a thrill. That kind of speed on such narrow race tires is exhilarating. With nothing between you and the pavement but Lycra shorts and an "egg carton" on your head, the thrill is in what you don't want to happen as much as what is happening!

Sliding down the face of 12 to 15 foot waves on a "big" day on a southern California shore break was memorable speed, though I would have no idea how fast I was going, but it felt fast to be sure. Skateboarding down a long hill seemed really fast, but again, speed is somewhat relative to the conditions. There have been some amusement park rides that have good speed to them, but they typically don't last long enough. Many years ago on Lake Havasu in a friend's super-charged 21 foot Miller ski boat we went fast... maybe 80 mph on the water ... that may not seem fast to you, but speed always feels faster on water than on land. And then there are the numerous car and motorcycle experiences... suffice to say, fast is "fast" (here is the potentially incriminating part, so we'll just leave it at that) and if there are legal limits to speed, there are also mechanical limits as well.

As I grow older and hopefully a bit wiser, I now don't take the chances (both legally or physically) I once did when it comes to speed, but I can't recall ever being truly afraid of speed. I have a friend who is a fellow motorcyclist and while he loves motorcycling, he doesn't care much for speed. He has a "limit" that he just doesn't cross. I'm wondering, if given all the necessary safety precautions, there is a speed for me that would be too fast? I've often thought given the chance, I'd be a candidate to set a land speed record because speed just doesn't bother me. Where my friend says he just "disconnects" with speed, I'm just beginning to get plugged in.

Lest I leave the impression that I'm either reckless or irresponsible, I might inform you that the only speeding ticket I've ever received was last year going 25 mph in a 20 mph school zone that I didn't even know I was in! In fact, at the time, I was proud of myself for thinking I was actually driving 5 mph UNDER the speed limit! Well, "pride goeth before the fall."

The one place I'm finding speed to not be so exhilarating is in the pace of life. Right now things are happening very quickly around me and, more than ever in my life, I'm finding the need to slow down almost to a stop. Speed is addictive and running high speeds at the pace of life, there is a "limit" where we can just be going too fast.

Yesterday, I took some time to simply sit and be quiet. I wasn't praying, I wasn't meditating, I wasn't reading Scripture... I just slowed down and "idled" for a while. I listened to the late morning silence of the wonderful neighborhood in which I live. I heard the birds, felt the slow gentle breeze against my skin, watched the trees sway against the push and pull of nature and felt a nearly forgotten rush of simply being still...

"Be still, and know that I am God"
Ps. 46:10

If you are moving too fast, don't forget to slow down occasionally.