A Bicycle Meditation

I love to bicycle, and part of the fun is the camaraderie with my bicycle buddies. Weekly, we’ll pedal about 18 miles through urban streets to our favorite breakfast stop, a funky little restaurant where where the oatmeal is hot, the pancakes are big, and the price is low.
Talk is always light-hearted and laugh-filled. We’re an eclectic mix of people: A dentist, a real-estate developer, a woman who cleans houses, a teacher, a brick layer, a retired mail carrier, an IT manager, a yoga teacher…what we have in common is our love of cycling. New people to the group introduce themselves by first names only, and instead of that All-American question, “What do you do?” the first question asked is usually, “So, how long you been cycling?”
If you belong to a group that is built around a particular interest—whether it’s hiking or quilting or singing barbershop harmony—you know how easily people of myriad backgrounds can get along when everyone shares a particular focus.
Today it occurred to me that all major world religions share a particular focus. At the core, all are centered on the idea of love for one another. Whether Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus…read deeply in any sacred scriptures and a loving concern for one another is voiced.
Just for today, wouldn’t it be wonderful if people everywhere could focus on what we have in common and ignore the superficial differences that separate us? Wouldn’t it be great if we could relate to one another in the same light-hearted and generous-spirited way that I see with my bicycle buddies?
It's something to think about.