Mouse On A Motorcycle

Do you remember the first time you did something bad?

I do. I  was in second grade and a book fair came to school. My parents had given me money to go buy any book I wanted. Well, as a wide-eyed, shopper-in-the-making, I quickly got swept up in the glitz of the posters, stickers, pencils, markers and everything else that wasn't a book. I spent my allotted funds and walked out of the elementary school library with a big ol' bag of goodies. I got back to my classroom, sat at my desk and thought I'd be so excited to show off my new possessions. But the excitement never came.

Do you remember the first time you did something right?

After awhile of letting my six-year old brain sort through the situation, I walked back to the library, returned my items and bought a book. I can still remember it was a children's novel about a mouse that rode a motorcycle. As I walked back to the classroom, I stared at the cover of that book and felt such an intense pride in my decision and knew that I had done the right thing.

To this day, I can clearly visualize that walk back to the classroom, holding that paperback. In fact, I recall this memory a lot and on purpose. I use it as my touchstone of truth and doing the right thing. Remembering the pure bliss that follows a honorable action.

To me, there's no other explanation for that feeling than the Holy Spirit.

There's always this moment where we have the choice. It's usually filled with pressure and a ball of knotted thoughts spinning in your mind. I believe that blink-of-an-eye moment is sacred because it seems to be the most sincere moment of truth within ourselves. It's the test of a knee-jerk reaction we hope we've trained ourselves well for. We pray that we have strength and faith without having to think about it.

When I blink in those moments, I hope that there's a vision of a mouse on a motorcycle.