What're you paying? 400 Shekels?

So I'm reading through the Bible in a year... well, I'm trying at least. Accounts like this one: http://stuffchristianslike.net/2011/01/already-being-behind-on-your-read-through-the-bible-in-a-year-plan/ hold less hope for me. Then again, I've pushed through some very dense reading for lesser purposes (thanks Developmental Psychobiology!), so perhaps Leviticus will be okay.

Nonetheless, I sometimes come across passages in this endeavor which make me really think and yesterday I noticed something interesting in Genesis 23, the account of Sarah's death and burial. You see, after Abraham's wife Sarah died, and since he didn't own the land he wanted where he wanted to bury her, he approached Ephron (no, not Zach) the Hittite to see about the area Sarah was to be buried. Ephron offered Abraham the land for free. Twice. But Abraham refused to take it, instead when Ephron mentioned what the land was worth, Abraham gave him that amount in full (400 shekels or 10 pounds of silver which, according to my NASB commentary, was more than the land was worth).

Now I am the son of a father who will go into major department stores and see if he can negotiate a better price on shirts, so the prospect of someone passing up such a deal is a bit odd to me. Even if the guy was only following customs of generosity or hospitality, paying that much when one could get it for free is quite surprising to my sensibilities. Then I thought about what we value, how we express that value in what we sacrifice to get it.

When I go out for tea, I look at the price and ask whether it is fair, that is whether my impression of the value or importance for that item is equal to or greater than the price someone is asking for it. Some might include a sense of what type of labour was needed for it or the quality of growing certain crops, but we all implicitly place value on what we want. In Vancouver, you could get tea/coffee for less than $2 at certain places, so what makes so many pay upwards of $5 for a Grande-infinite-pump-mocha/choca/caramella/la-vida-loca beverage?

And we sacrifice more than money. Jesus said "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". If a guy really wants to pursue a girl, he's not going to be thinking whether she's worth the $50+ dinner. Moreso, if a guy wants to marry the girl, the sacrifice is even greater: his whole life. And he can say how great she is and how important to him but if he doesn't back it up with action it's not all too likely she or anyone else will believe him.

Now I'm not saying we shouldn't look for deals; in fact, bargains tell you how much you value the item above the asking price. But those things which are truly important to you, the friendships you have or the values you hold... what are they worth to you? And would you be willing to pay 400 shekels of silver?

And to Christians: how much do you value discipleship of Jesus Christ? The Gospel of Jesus? And how might you be showing that?

Chilliwack'ed, the rest of the story

So it has been 1.5 years since I did this trek and about the same time since I posted about the journey. I thank those who actually have read this and apologize for not finishing. In an effort to finalize certain things which I did not complete in 2010, I will now attempt to tell the rest of this account as well as I can, leaving out some minor details...

So Sumas Way ends up winding down to Highway 1, a fiercesome beast to any and all cyclists. After doing another ever-so-fun left turn, I took the South Parallel road only because it was separate from the highway but (surprise!) parallels the highway. Going along here was great; the wind was somehow in my favor, like God's hands pushing me along to my goal.

I will skip the descriptions of the many fields, trees, and houses I saw along the road; they are a sight to behold with their varying colours and textures, but really after you see one field you kind of tune out the others. I turned onto Fireclay/No. 4 Rd after about 10.5km of the wondrous forces of the Parallel Rd., entering into another winding portion of the route.

It's surprising how majestic life can be when you're going at 25-30km/hr. I often have trouble getting out of the busyness of my mind and biking seems to be one of the best ways to do this, if only due to the safety issue of not concentrating and ending up a very unwelcome hood ornament to someone's more motorized mode of transport. Necessity can be a wonderful thing.

Going through Yarrow, which I think is a town but it could just be a description of one of the crops, I entered the "joy" of Vedder Mountain-Vedder Rd.; this was a lot more elevation change than you may expect. By now I was reaching at least 80-90kms total and was about as appreciative of small uphills as one might be appreciative of someone shoving rocks in your shoes before a run. Not to mention that I would be seeing all of this soon enough when I made my way back.

In Chilliwack, I fueled up with some food and Gatorade. As it happened, I made my journey such that I arrived in Chilliwack at a time and day when no bike stores were open; this being important since I wanted to find a better way back. It would not have been so much of a problem, but someone might have mentioned a few things to avoid. I now know, were I to bike to Chilliwack again, to try and get on the NORTH side of the highway...

South Parallel Road, that blissful road of heavenly arms guiding me along, happens to hold this description when you are heading East. It... changes... when you go the other way. The best description I can think of is having the near-full force of nature itself attempting to stop you from going any further. I believe this is from biking in the opposite direction of the highway traffic to your right, creating a very harsh wind tunnel. I actually got off my bike to walk it a ways because I became so dejected by my progress and believed it would be easier that way. It was not.

Escape became essential, so I took a right at Whatcom Rd. and asked someone there whether there might be a better way through Abbotsford without being next to the highway. They pointed me towards going further on Whatcom but mentioned that there is a hill, to which I replied "I've done plenty of those today, one more won't hurt". There are moments in my life when my pride and arrogance are amazingly highlighted and subsequently smashed with a hammer. I like to think God smiles at these moments as I do afterwards (sometimes during), despite the pain they cause me. As you may have discerned, the hill in question was big and very steep for a cyclist. I had exchanged the pain of heart-stopping wind with the arduous duty of this terrible ascent. As I kept going up, I actually went OVER the hill at Sumas Rd. I had been on before. By the time I had gotten to the top, I realized I had likely biked most of the major hills in Abbotsford.

Another issue: I could not find the way to Fraser Hwy from downtown Abbotsford. Seriously, they had confused those streets to much I couldn't find the way. I ended up stopping at none other than the King of Floors to get directions. Neither the king or his tiny dog (for those who have seen the commercials) were there but one of the loyal subjects pointed me in the right direction. I had somehow gotten too far South and now had to make another course correction.

Fortunately I made it to Langley in time for meeting up with Shannon, which was as always a pleasant time of good conversation and company. She pointed me towards the areas where I could find much-needed sustenance, my choosing Earl's due to their good food plus I had a gift card along with me.

A note about thoughts: they are pervasive. What began as a quick thought to alleviate the stress of possibly not finishing my journey turned into what was almost reality. I realized at this point my body was pushed, darkness approached, and the distance just seems too far. I would take the bus after dinner, depending how I felt at that point. I had already done quite a bit (about 180kms) so bowing out now would not be so bad. It's amazing one's ability to rationalize the easy way out.

I went to Earl's and ate, ate a big dinner: salmon and veggies and rice. I was close to not taking a bus but still fairly resolved. The waitress asked if I wanted dessert; at this point I had biked a long way and my heart rate monitor basically told me I would not replenish my expended calories if I ate only dessert for the next two days, so I decided I would have some ice cream. As my mouth tasted the sugar and cream, I felt my muslces being restored. By the time I finished I had no more thoughts of taking a bus. I was going to BEAT the bus to Surrey (likely the sugar talking at that point). As I began biking, I was energized and took hills like they were nothing. Before I knew it I was in Surrey and approaching the bridge.

Something funny happened at that point. 198kms were done but my energy was flat, gone again, and the Putello bridge was ahead of me. This was the end. This was the last 2km and I no longer had the energy to go up that treacherous bridge and down the other side. I knew that this was some sort of message from God Above, that I would have no choice but to trust Him the last little bit. I summoned whatever microns of strength my muscles had left and began the ascent. Lights glaring in my eyes, every rotation an effort, I pedaled closer and closer until I reached the top. And that was it. I allowed gravity to suck me down to the nearest Skytrain.

A Skytrain, a bus, then done. As I said before: 201km biked, 100km of which done in 4.5 hours, total time from start to finish: about 14 hours, 8430 calories expended (according to my heartrate monitor), countless moments of doubt and near-cursing frustration, 9 different towns biked through, and nearly no energy left by the time I got back.

If I were to do it again, I would like to have someone with me. I've come to the realization recently that my selfishness seems to particularly extend to the activities I do day-to-day as I don't allow anyone to share them with me. Biking is definitely one of the areas I would like to have someone with me, if only for the knowledge that there's someone watching my back in case a wind is too much or a hill is too high and I need that extra push to get up. I was blessed on this journey by having God there beside me the whole way and He'll be there next time as well, but sharing that experience with someone else will make all the difference.