On June 3, 2019, as the sun was rising over the Taconic Range, burning away a foggy night, I stood next to my bicycle on the Walkway Over the Hudson, inserted my ear buds, and bowed my head in gratitude. It was the start of my fifth day on the road, the final miles of my pedaling pilgrimage to Ordination and Commencement from One Spirit Interfaith Seminary (OSIS). Listening to David Whyte recite his poem, “Everything is Waiting for You,” had become a morning ritual for me on this trek, the tenor of his tone tuning me daily into a reflective mood as I pensively pedaled toward the end of seminary. Whyte’s poem invited me, implored me, to heed to “the grand array,” pay attention to the intimacy of my surroundings, note the way that my bicycle was enabling and mentoring me into a more intimate relationship with the sacred and sublime.
My journey over the four days prior to this one had been deeply moving, curiously challenging, and beautiful. I passed over land and skirted waterways sacred to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy; meandered above the Sacred Grove and family farm of the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith; bordered hallowed grounds where ex-slaves, abolitionists, and women fought for and claimed social, civil and religious rights; and, zigzagged past monasteries founded by and housing Buddhists, Franciscan friars, and Greek Orthodox monks. On this day, the final leg of my solitary sojourn, I felt grateful for the opportunity to experience some of the sacred stories and sites I had only read about; I felt grateful for a body that could still pedal over 400 miles; I felt grateful for the connection I enjoy every single day with the Great Mystery. And, I felt especially grateful in the hours remaining before being ordained, for David Whyte’s generative and germane nudge: “Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation.”
Friends, welcome to Sacred Cycling. For me, the bicycle is a tool on which I can distill my attention, deepen my awareness, and merge more deliberately with the sacred and sublime, one pedal stroke at a time. This website is the place wherein I hope to further explore what that means and what that looks like for me and my evolving mobile ministry. In the coming days, weeks, and months, I’ll explore how I have been engaging with different spiritual practices from the world’s wisdom traditions on the bike; I’ll share some poetry that’s moving me along, as well as plans for my Sacred Centuries project, which you are invited to help me both imagine and experience (click above on “Care to Share”); and, I’ll muse about what is both illuminating and scary about offering sacred service from the saddle of my metal mare. My hope is that the questions I ask, the ideas I consider, and the projects I pursue offer you, as well, something to ponder while you’re pedaling your own path.
A BIG THANK YOU to Corvida Raven for her meticulous and generous attention to me and the creation of this site. Sacred Cycling would have remained an idea in my heart, Corvida, had you not said “Yes.” Everything is waiting for us all, friends! Thank you ALL for riding along!