Community

So this past Thursday night a meeting I was supposed to attend got canceled.  Which meant that I could be home before 8:00 instead of 9:30.  I was grateful because my friends, Don and Jean, had told me that Pam "The Patch Lady" always showed up at Bryant's Icehouse on Thursdays.  Not only does Pam sew on patches, she also designs them.  So I hurried home and made my way to Bryant's.

Here is the part that people might not realize:  When I got to Bryant's, I saw Don and Jean.  Their eyes lit up when I walked back to where they were standing.  First, Don and I hugged.  Then Jean gave me both a hug and a kiss.  We've known each other for years but I have never been at their house.  We really are strangers to one another (as all people are to one another), but the biker community has these long held rituals of hospitality, of welcoming, of brotherhood, that go unrecognized.  But I feel it and I appreciate it.

It is the same feeling when I see the guys I play golf with every Friday drive into the parking lot.  The same feeling I get on Sunday mornings at church or throughout the week when people come in to the church office.  It is the feeling of community.  Of belonging.  Of connectedness.  Of being part of something bigger and beyond ourselves.

As I continue waiting for the Epic 25th ride to start next week I continue to follow ride reports of other people who are making their own journeys.  These are people I might never meet.  I only know what they share about their experiences.  Yet they are my teachers.  By listening to their stories, they are welcoming me into their lives.  We know community together.  I sense the holiness in that and I appreciate how God always invites us into connectedness.

So I gave Pam my leather vest and the two new patches I want on it.  I am VERY picky about what goes on my vest.  Nothing against Boy Scouts but I'm not interested in filling it up with merit badges so that it looks like I'm wearing a patch.  Only patches tied to significant memories and experiences will ever make it on my vest.

Right now, the top patch on the left is from the 2010 Hoka Hey ride.  It was the first one and a really amazing experience.  Below that is the patch from the Tail of the Dragon trip that Michael and I took over Thanksgiving one year.  To those, Pam is going to add a new patch with the logo of my church, Faith Lutheran.  The Faith logo patch will be at the top on the other side of the Hoka Hey.  I figure that will be an interesting conversation starter for years to come.

Down one side of the vest are the five "I Rode Mine to Sturgis" patches.  Every one of those trips was remarkable, maybe some day I'll tell those stories here on the blog.  But, for now, I'm pretty much done with pilgrimages to Sturgis.  (Never say never.)

On my back I have a great Harley Davidson eagle wings patch that I got when Mark and I went to the Valentine's Day Massacre rally one year in Bourne, TX.  It was a freezing cold trip but great to be together and we found all sorts of ways to have fun.  That patch means a lot.  Pam is going to add a Saddlesore 1000 patch and a HOG patch I've had forever but never sewn on.  I'm doing it this year so that, in case something happens to the bike and I need to dial up a local chapter for help, I feel I can do so with some integrity.  (OK, its just a nice patch that I happen to like.)

When the Epic 25th is over, I'll have some more patches that will go on the back, above the eagle, across my shoulders.  I'll be doing that ride alone in that I'll be on my own bike.  But I'll never be alone - for we are always connected to one another by God's love, by memories, by stories, by community.