How bad can it be?

After seven years in the desert, I am re-learning how to ride a motorcycle in the rain and remembering the kinds of gear one should wear when doing so.  As a kid in Florida I knew about rain; every afternoon we expected a ‘sun shower’ which simply meant that the sun was shining and the rain was pouring!  I had been in plenty of rain storms, walked in the rain, run in the rain, sat in classrooms soaked from the rain, and even sailed in the rain.  At age fifteen I got my first motorcycle, learned how to ride, so sooner or later I was going to ride in the rain.  I knew about rain and just didn’t worry about it - how bad could it be?

Real bad.

Little raindrops at slow speeds don’t hurt; those same little raindrops at 40 or 50 MPH hurt A LOT!  I should have known better; in science class we had done an experiment about force, velocity and mass, first propelling a bowling ball against a target and then doing the same with a marble.  We measured and compared the effects and quickly determined that getting hit with a bowling ball at slow speed is far preferable to getting hit with a marble at high speed.

But at fifteen (actually at many ages) we don’t always transfer lessons from one field to another.  After all, what do bowling balls and marbles have to do with rain?

Turns out a lot.

Under the right conditions I actually enjoy riding in the rain, as it affords a nice change (remember I come from the desert; ask me again in six months!) and the opportunity to practice riding under different circumstances, both of which have value for me.  And I have remembered that there are three basic options (or combinations thereof) when faced with traveling in the rain: don’t go there, increase your outer protection or slow down.

Small is endurable; small with a lot of velocity hurts.  The marble experiment taught me that.  Little raindrops can be refreshing and delightful (especially in the desert).  Little raindrops at high speed hurt.  Words, looks, or actions can seem small by themselves but when hurled at high velocity, like when we are angry or frustrated or embarrassed, can hurt a lot.  So depending upon where you find yourself in the interaction, make a choice: don’t go there, slow down, or increase your outer protection.

See you in church!