Riding the Bicycle

I just listened to President Uchtdorf's talk Of Regrets and Resolutions. In that talk, he said several things that I needed to hear. Actually, I probably need to hear them again, but I don't have time. I'm leaving for school in less than an hour (an hour earlier than normal), and I really need to post at least something on my blog before I go.

President Uchtdorf shared a usual experience that he and his wife had when riding their bicycles.

My wife, Harriet, and I love riding our bicycles. It is wonderful to get out and enjoy the beauties of nature. We have certain routes we like to bike, but we don’t pay too much attention to how far we go or how fast we travel in comparison with other riders.

However, occasionally I think we should be a bit more competitive. I even think we could get a better time or ride at a higher speed if only we pushed ourselves a little more. And then sometimes I even make the big mistake of mentioning this idea to my wonderful wife.

Her typical reaction to my suggestions of this nature is always very kind, very clear, and very direct. She smiles and says, “Dieter, it’s not a race; it’s a journey. Enjoy the moment.”

When thinking of Harriet Uchtdorf's quote in context of the other blog posts I've written, I wonder if what she said about bike-riding could be said about Eternal Progression as well.

Thinking about what I've posted recently, the primary concern seems to be the constant need for improvement. We have so many sins to resolve, so many bad habits to quit, so many Christlike qualities to develop. Even if we forget about the mortal world and focus only on the eternal things, life seems to give us an unending supply of things to do.

And of course, all those things are important to do. We have to resolve all our past transgressions, kick all our bad habits, and develop every Christlike quality if we're ever going to become perfect. I occasionally get impatient with myself for not kicking bad habits quickly enough. Perhaps I would do well to remember what Harriet Uchtdorf said, "it's not a race; it's a journey."

One thing that I try to remember about Eternal Progression is that, in our mortal perspective, it'll take an eternity to complete. No one can do it all in one lifetime, but fortunately, this one lifetime isn't all we have. Because of Christ, we'll all be resurrected, so we can continue living and progressing after we die. It's not a race. We don't have to get there faster than anyone else. We don't even have to do it quickly. We just have to do it persistently. And all we have to do in this life is get ourselves on the right path, and show, by our actions, that we're willing to follow that path forever.

But something that is very important to remember about this journey is that, even though there is no deadline for reaching the destination, We Must Never Stop. We're still on bicycles. If you're riding your bike and stop pedaling, you might coast for a while, if you already have momentum or if you're going downhill at the moment, but gradually, you're going to slow down, and when you feel yourself slowing down, you'd better start pedaling again or you'll crash.

It's the same with Eternal Progression. We don't have to burn rubber or anything, we can take the time to "Enjoy the moment," as Sister Uchtdorf said, but if we ever stop progressing, we may find the resulting crash a very painful experience, and we may find it very hard to start biking again.

There is a balance. There has to be. Somewhere between making good progress toward our Eternal goals and not stressing out too much about how we're nowhere near perfect yet, there has to be some "perfect speed" which is slow enough that we can find joy in the journey, but also fast enough that we can be satisfied with our progress. Maybe that speed is different for every person. Some of us, undoubtably, need to speed up, and some of us may be surprised to learn that we might do well to slow down. Only God knows for sure.

If there's one thing I've learned this morning, it's that we need to keep biking - uphill, downhill, forever - but while we bike, it's important to find joy in the journey and to enjoy the ride.