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July 6, 2008

Rik Rasmussen

Proper 9A - RCL

To read the lessons for the day click here:

http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp9_RCL.html

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

Psalm 45: 11-18

Romans 7:15-25a

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus said to the crowd, "To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

`We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not mourn.'

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon'; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Let us pray,

Creator God,

you have made us

not in one mould, but in many:

so deepen our unity in Christ

that we may rejoice in our diversity. Amen

Today I want to share with you some reflections on my latest vacation. A vacation that included getting up at 4:30 in the morning and to work until 7:30 or 8:00 in the evening. I’m sure that with that description many of you know that I am talking about my annual volunteering on the AIDS Lifecycle bike ride. A ride to raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the AIDS Prevention and treatment services of the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. By now the regulars at St. Paul’s are probably not at all surprised to hear me preaching about a fundraiser. After all there is much more to the AIDS Lifecycle event than raising money. The event raises awareness in the communities through which we pass. It also provides a wonderful community where healing and support take place. Indeed, the week in the AIDS Lifecycle “bubble” is truly a place where I can hear Jesus calling "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Let me start by giving a few of the statistics. This year we had 2500 Bike Riders, an increase of over 200 riders from last year (and the maximum number that the ride can accommodate), and over 500 “Roadies”, as the volunteer crew members are called. Our oldest rider was 81 and our youngest was 18. Participants came form all over the country and indeed all over the world, including from France, and Finland!. The riders rode an amazing 545+ miles in seven days from the Cow Palace in San Francisco to the VA center in Los Angeles . Together we raised an astonishing $11.6 million dollars. An increase of almost 1 million dollars over last year. Money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, their affiliate Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, and the HIV/AIDS Services at the LA Gay and Lesbian Services for prevention and care. Critical money at a time when federal government money is decreasing. During the week the Roadies sat up and took down a mobile city with bike parking, medical and message facilities, food service and hot showers, and more, in six different locations to care for the riders. We had gay people and straight people, we had men and women, we had bothers and sisters, moms and dads, nephews and nieces all riding and crewing to help people living with HIV/AIDS and to spread awareness through the communities we pass through.

This year, once again, my partner Jon and I were members of the bike parking crew. This was my eighth time participating in the Ride and my fourth time on the bike parking crew. (It was Jon’s 7^th time participating and his 5^th time on the bike parking crew.) For us the event resembles something like a family reunion. On day zero, as orientation day is called, we run into many people who we see once a year. Many of them we know by name and some we just recognize and greet as if they were long lost cousins. All around us are the joyful sounds of reunions and not just a few nervous, deer in the headlights, first time participants seeing the amazing organization that they will be part of and which will change their lives.

The bike parking crew is responsible for taking down and setting up bike racks at every camp. We had a fabulous crew this year that worked together with wonderful efficiency and good times. Our crew was a mix of returnees and newcomers. Our wonderful crew Captain Christine was with us once again this year. She really knows how to get things done in camp and who to call when things are not going right. Unfortunately, on the afternoon of day one Christine was put on medical hold and Jon and I were put in charge for what ended up being about two and a half days. Our fellow crew members were wonderful and pitched in to make sure that the riders and each other were still taken care of (and it helped to have Beth, the crew deputy, to call when we did not know who to call!) Our crew members just naturally fell into place with some excelling at organizing the camp, setting up the Gatorade and water stations, getting the cyclist parked and scanned etc. It was amazing that by day three we could hold a short meeting to discuss the lay out of the parking area and then start to drop bike racks (which consist of 10 foot steel poles and “A” Frames) and about half the way down the length of dropping the poles and “A’s” part of the crew peeled off and started the set up. By the time I had maneuvered the truck back off the field the racks were all set up and riders were being welcomed into camp.

Our basic day on the ride went something like this: Wake up a 4:30, get dressed and go to breakfast, brush teeth, pack, take down tent and lug everything to the gear truck. Go to bike parking by 5:45. Make sure the Gatorade is made, and get out the Route sheets for the day. The riders start arriving by 6. Between 6 and 8:30 we hand out route sheets, keep the Gatorade and butt balm tables stocked and reassure the riders that there bike really is still where they parked it (and help them locate it when they can’t). At 8:30 bike parking is closed and we load any remaining bikes on a truck to be taken to the next camp. These are usually riders that for medical reasons are unable to ride for the day. We then drop the racks, load the trucks and go to the next camp. Once there we set up the racks and the rest of the area and start checking in riders. By this time it is usually about 1 or 2:00 in the afternoon. About 3:00 we would take a break to set up our tent and retrieve our gear. We would then go and check in riders and welcome them into camp. Once we welcomed the last rider into camp for the day we had our crew debriefing, ate dinner, showered, and went to bed. Repeat for seven days. One thing that is unique about this ride is that it is the LAST riders who get the biggest welcome into camp. Not the first.

The Roadies job is to make sure that the riders are taken care of and have nothing to think about except riding their bikes from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Of course there is more to the ride than that. There is the wonderful space were people are allowed to grieve and tell the stories of those who can no longer ride and those who are only with us in memory. There were many times that I observed my fellow crew members helping a rider who lost their bike in the sea of thousands of nearly identical bikes (well at least they seem nearly identical after a few days!). Or overheard a crewmember giving a rider, or fellow crewmember the reassurance they needed to get through a particularly hard day. Let me give you a couple of examples.

This year one our crewmembers, Big John, celebrated his birthday on the ride. John’s birthday was on day 6 in Ventura. Our crew did not want to let such a day go by without some recognition. Now day 6 is our hardest day for set up and is when past bike parking crews have melted down. The parking area is in a parking lot that has hardly a right angle and parking lines that run at angles that trick the eyes and make it nearly impossible to set up parallel lines of bike racks. To top that off it is always hot and we are all running at or near a state of exhaustion. But instead of melting down our crew celebrated Big John’s birthday. Erica, our amazing representative from UPS who provides the scanners for checking in the riders, phoned ahead to her dad who lives in the Ventura area and ordered a birthday cake which was picked up en route. You could see the wonder and surprise in Big John’s eyes when the crew took a short break to sing Happy Birthday and serve cake and ice cream. This year the only thing that melted was the ice cream!

On the morning of day 6 at 8:30 we had the usual few riders getting last minute adjustments by the bike techs and the few stragglers having a tough time getting out of camp. I was taking care of the hold bikes making sure that people who were put on hold by the medical team had a release in order to ride. The hold racks were adjacent to the HIV Positive peddler’s area. One of the last riders out of camp was nearby and I was giving him encouragement to get on the road as son as possible so that he could ride. He was obviously in a state. He was literally shaking. I, initially, thought that he was worried that he would be “Sagged” to the next camp because he was running late. I tried to reassure him that he had time to get on the road and to relax. It turned out that his lateness was a symptom of his problem. He was terrified of the days route. You see, on day 6 the riders spend almost the entire day riding on the shoulder of Highway 101 or Highway 1. Earlier in the ride there are a couple of places were the riders are on the shoulder of Highway 101 and the shoulder is very rough the inhospitable for a bike rider. I tried to calm him down and explained that the shoulder of the highway today was much better than before and that day 6 was probably my favorite day riding along the Santa Barbara Coast. The scenery was enough to make up for riding on the side of the freeway. I told him it can be a truly magical day riding along he coast. I related an experience hat I had many years ago of riding along the bluff with the highway to my left and the Pacific Ocean to my right. As I rode along suddenly a flock of pelicans appeared riding the updraft from the ocean. Because of the bluff they were riding at my eye level and at my speed. It was such a magical moment to spend time riding with those wonderful prehistoric birds.

As I related my story of the pelicans I could see the stress leave his body. He stopped shaking and a serene look came over him. He thanked me for putting the image in his mind and felt that he could hold onto the image of riding with pelicans to get him through the day. And he rode off calm and confidant that he could make it through a day of riding on the highway shoulder. The next morning that rider came up to me, gave me a hug, thanked me again for putting the calming image into his head. He told me that it happened to him too. He got the joy of riding with pelicans on day 6. He said that made it possible for him to complete day six and the experience would get him through the last day of the ride as well.

The ride touches the communities that we pass through as well. There are wonderful stories of businesses opening up their doors to the riders with free coffee and un-official rest stops in the most out of the way places. In one of the communities where the 16 gear and tent trucks usually fill up with diesel the captain noticed that he price had gone up 50 cents a gallon just prior to our arriving. The captain took stock and decided to wait until the next day to fuel up at another station. While the trucks were fueling up the next day the captain told the owner of the station about the ride and about the raising of the price for diesel by the other station. When the 16 trucks were filled the bill, at the “lower priced” station came to $2700. The station owner said, “Just give me $2000. The rest is on me.”

The ride also gives people a safe place to mourn those they have lost. We have many people riding with pictures of their lost loved ones. They ride in their honor and to remember. They ride so they can tell the stories that made these special people with out the fear that the mere fact that they died of AIDS will shut down peoples ability to hear.

On our last night in camp we hold a candle light vigil on the beach. It is a very moving and cathartic experience to have well over to 3000 people with candles gather silently on the beach in a series of large circles. There are no speeches at the vigil. It is silent with only the sound of the waves crashing into the shore and the occasions sniffle to be heard. It is a place where people silently offer the memories of their loved ones, both those they have lost and those still living with HIV and AIDS to their God. It is a place of prayer.

I could go on and on with stories from the ride. There are amazing stories of what the money has enabled the benefiting organizations do Globally to help stop the pandemic. How the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation is working in China and Uganda on AIDS prevention and service. How the LA Gay and Lesbian center provides housing for run away or thrown away youth and to top it off I haven’t even talked at all about “Red Dress” day yet! I hope I have given you a since of why I keep doing this ride. Why I find a little piece of God’s loving Kingdom while participating in helping others. Jesus’ healings, in the Gospels and today are not always physical but his grace filled love also heals the great psychological hurts that society so often inflicts. The Ride too offers healing. As Jesus said in today’s Gospel "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." I bet that Jesus would be a “Roadie” on the ride!

So, am I participating in the ride again? You bet. Jon and I signed up on day 5 to crew again next year. It is one week where we can help people in a very real and outward way. The ride provides funds for prevention, treatment and outreach but it also allows us, and many others a place to celebrate life. To celebrate the living and those we have lost. I invite you to find ways that you can mirror Jesus offer to the weary among us and to provide rest for their souls.