Week of March 9 (Lent 1)

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11 - Jesus is Tempted in the Wilderness

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.

The tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

But he answered, It is written, One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, and On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

Jesus said to him, Again it is written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.

Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan! for it is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

PWRDF Story: Le Tour de PWRDF - Biking through the Appalachians, by Suzanne Rumsey

In June 2010 I undertook an 18-day, 1,400 km bike ride on behalf of PWRDF. Dubbed Le Tour de PWRDF, my journey began at the General Synod meeting in Halifax, passed through Springhill, Nova Scotia (the site of the 1958 mine disaster that led to the creation of PWRDF), New Brunswick, and Quebec, ending in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, on the island of Montreal where PWRDF was established by General Synod in 1959.

Riding alone, but hosted by individuals and parishes along the way, I had many good adventures and wonderful encounters. As I wrote in the final report of Le Tour, I enjoyed the opportunity to come to know PWRDF supporters especially those I stayed with and feel that there is now a network of folk in the four dioceses I travelled through who know PWRDF and the Public Engagement work a little better.

The biggest challenge of the ride was physical. I carried 25-30 pds. of gear on my bike, Olive, and while she was faithful and true, the hills through all three provinces were tough. On one occasion, they almost did me in:

June 23, 2010 Im developing a theory about long-distance bike rides: There is always a hill at the end of the day when one is most tired. Yesterday there were six, massive, long hills. Those [last] 25 km from Inverness to Thetford Mines [with the Appalachians in between] took two hours to cover and required a bottle of water, half a bottle of Gatorade, a granola bar and two pieces of Coco Camino Fair Trade Chocolate courtesy of Cecil Hinton (thanks Cecily!) to make it that and a few stops halfway up hills and some stern talking to my legs, and the rest of me.

What I didnt mention in the blog was that at the bottom of what turned out to be the longest and last hill, I gave into temptation and pulled out my cell phone to call ahead to Thetford Mines, in the hope that my host, Lynn Ross, would come to pick me up. After almost 100 kms. and five hills my legs and body were spent or so I thought. While I had enjoyed a cell phone signal throughout the ride, this time there was none. No signal, no call, no car ride.

My brother, Mark Rumsey, who is a competitive cyclist, owns a bike store in Edmonton, and was my unofficial Le Tour sponsor, wrote this to me during the ride:

Hey Suzanne: It sounds like you are finding some hills on your trip. Just remember; what doesnt kill you makes you stronger... or at least more achy. You can slug me next time you see me. When Im suffering up a hill in a race I like to think about the downhill on the other side and the rest Im going to get there cause theres always a down... that and looking forward to food. Love, Mark

I got back on the bike, keeping my bike shoe unclipped from the pedal in case I needed to stop on the steep hill quickly. But halfway up I heard a click. I was locked in. There was no way around it. It was up and over or fall over. So I rode up and over and into Thetford Mines where Lynn and a frozen cappuccino with whipped cream at the Tim Hortons awaited me.

To read more about Le Tour de PWRDF, go to the September 2010 edition of Under the Sun:

http://pwrdf.org/wp-content/plugins/document_manager/views/file_download.php?fname=uts_sep_2010.pdf&fid=30

To read Le Tour de PWRDF blog postings, click here: http://pwrdfblog.livejournal.com/2010/06/09/

Reflection: When have you faced a challenging or tempting situation in your life? How did you deal with it? How did you feel about your response? In hind sight, what might you have done differently to deal with it?

Concluding Prayer

Listening to the Pounding of Rice

How much the rice must suffer

under the pestle;

But, after the pounding,

it comes out

white like cotton.

The same thing often happens

to people in this world:

Misfortunes workshop

turns them

to polished jade.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Published in Your Will Be Done, CCA Youth 1984