The Salsa Casseroll Diaries: Post Numero Uno

As the trip crawls nearer and nearer to becoming a reality, I become evermore aware of my overall naivete about this whole thing. Che Guevara's(Sorry no cool quotes from Jesu, MLK, or..... Levitucus lol) words come to mind, "The enormity of our endeavor escaped us in those moments; all we could see was the dust on the road ahead and ourselves on the bike, devouring kilometers in our flight northward."

Che back in the 1950's decided to escape the monotony of Medical School and travel up the coast of Latin America on a motorbike with his friend Alberto Granado to see, as he put it, "Our America with a capital A" and come near the pain of his fellow Latin brothers and sisters struggling to breathe under the oppressive weight of neo-colonialism. Witnessing the squalor faced by his brothers and sisters had a profound impact on the young "Che" and left an indelible footprint on his brain and heart, leading him to take initiative to create a better world for his sons and daughters to live in. Even though his means did not always seem just, the ends of equality and justice he desired are admirable in my eyes.

Similary, I am biking up the pacific coast in order to connect, in a small way, to the pain experienced by my friends in Africa who strain towards a better tomorow with a feroucious intensity, in hope that my team and I can too dream with them to draw the embrace of the eternal kindgom on the earth, now! In this pursuit, I believe I will draw closer to the heartbeat of God, who revealed himself in the form of a poor hebrew from the Hood, to liberate the poor in spirit with his scandalous grace.

Moreover, I am going into this trip full of youthful ignorance, and haphazard faith like a young Che, due to the fact that I am not a cyclist by any means, and therefore have not the slightest clue the pain 300 miles a week on a bike can bring, but I'm guessing there will be: cramps, nausea, indigestion, upset stomaches(wait that sounds alot like a commercial I know) resume thought: flat tires, sore backsides, low visibility, and dare I say, sweaty palms. I pray that my head can rest in the chest of God, whose Grace is made perfect in weakness, and whose Grace compells me to draw near to the pain of my friends in Africa desiring a consistent supply of clean cold water for their arid throats, and a solution to the virus devouring entire villages. The enormity of this trip escapes me........ it just migh change my life....Forever.......AHHH!!!!

Details of my training/fundraising/bike-funnzies to come on the next post....beware...

Shalom Speed. D