iain cotton is cycling from london to paris to raise money for the amos trust. as part of his preparation he wrote road psalm which is delightful...
You O Lord are Lord of the road.
You have opened out the landscape like a map.
The contours of the earth and the twists and turns of the road
are not hidden from your sight.
The highways and the lanes are your servants,
you know all their ways.
The climbs and the descents are yours,
the rolling hills and short sharp climbs,
switch-backs and fast descents,
wild mountain passes and sheltered valleys.The winds are your servants.
The headwind and the crosswind to make me work,
the tailwind for the big ring.
The summer sun warms my legs and
The summer rain cools my back.You O Lord are Lord of the road.
Sometimes I ride my own way,
believing I am stronger than I am,
but you are always on my wheel.
Waiting,
for me to blow.
You are beside me now,
we ride together and laugh and talk.
You push the pace, half a wheel ahead, you make me work.
You ease off when I am tired
and wait when I bonk up.
You will never drop me.You are a mystery in the peleton.
You wear the Yellow Jersey, yet serve like a domestique,
fetching and carrying water and provisions for the team.
When a rider crashes out you fall back and pace him to the bunch,
even a rider from a competing team!
Grace and mercy are you lead-out team
I am happy to ride in the glory of your presence.You O Lord are Lord of the road.
Your spirit is the carnival of light and colour as the peleton zooms past,
a shimmering glittering dance of polished alloy and
cross-hatched carbon,
a whirr of super-charged energy.
Your spirit is with us
closer than the rider and the bike.
Take your spirit away and there is no race.
In you we ride and have our being.You O Lord are Lord of the road.
i'm making it worship trick 94, in series 3
Excellent! That is surely the way David would have written it had the Israelites invented the bicycle...
Posted by: Trace Oberholtzer | August 17, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Thanks Jonny, he is now on his journey. I'm sure he'll be really chuffed that you made it a worship trick:)
Posted by: sonia mainstone-cotton | August 18, 2010 at 06:55 AM
That's brilliant! Best of luck to him, Sonia. Such a talented man, eh? Is it possible to sponsor him?
Posted by: Carole | August 18, 2010 at 09:11 AM
D'oh! Thick woman...just found the link! :-)
Posted by: Carole | August 18, 2010 at 09:34 AM