I perceive, from afar, that true excellence in anything is the result of unrelenting dedication and unwavering commitment.  No one achieves it by practicing or training one day a week or half-heartedly… the paragons of excellence in any field of endeavor, vocation or profession are full-time engaged in and committed to doing whatever it takes to excel at their chosen focus.

This is why being a “Sunday Christian” and acting pretty much the same as the un-believing and “un-churched” people around you the rest of the week is unlikely to result in your becoming truly psycho-spiritually happy, healthy and free, the way God wants us to be. 

Daily prayer, daily study, daily exercise of the Christian virtues may be rewarded with excellent living and superior strength and endurance of the trials of this life, and in unimaginable rewards in eternity.  Anything less is less rewarding and may result in failure – in a “crash”.

Long ago, when I was an instructor for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s “Experienced Rider’s Course”,  we studied and learned the elements of successful high-speed cornering. 

This post isn’t really about riding motorcycles, so, for purposes of this discussion, let’s focus on just a few elements of cornering:  looking thru the corner to the exit point (if you can’t see it, you probably shouldn’t be trying it at high-speed), selecting the proper “line” thru it to that point, and committing to that line with a steady or increasing throttle to stabilize the bike and get you safely and smoothly thru the curve. That means you slow down at the start and speed up as you go thru, when you’re doing it right, anyway.  If you go into it too fast and so must adjust your line, your instinct to brake hard or grab at the handlebars to correct may make you crash.  It’s difficult to brake well while leaned over, because you’re using most of your traction to lean – a radical adjustment to your “line” would require you to stand the bike up and straighten the ‘bars, then brake hard, and there’s rarely space or time in a corner to do that.

So, the essential key to good motorcycle cornering is first of all, practice, then practice, followed by… practice.  Practice leads to skills and understanding, and means making sounder choices about our “lines”, steering, braking and throttle control, and the confidence to smoothly and joyfully corner; it’s a whole lot of fun when you do it right, and a whole lot of expensive and painful “not-fun” to do it wrong.

See Luke 14:25-33.  Choose to follow Him thru life’s twisty, winding roads, and practice the skills and virtues He outlines in His word (that’s your line, your steering, your braking… your everything excellent); listen to the info about the road and the curves it’s going to “throw at you”, shared with you by other “experienced riders”, and your “crashes” will come less often and your joy become more complete, and you’ll “swoop” thru the corners and the rough spots in your life like an eagle in flight.  Keep your eyes on Him – He’s where you want to go, and “roll on the throttle”.

God Bless and have a great week, daily walking and riding and moving with Him; our destination is excellence, peace and the joy of the Lord.