Words of Roy

For the past five years, I have been riding my bicycle regularly from April to early September. Over those years, I’ve ridden thousands of miles. While I am not a competitive athlete, I love riding the country roads and trails near my home. My speed and performance have been consistent each riding season. Beginning about six weeks ago, each ride I took seemed to get harder and my average speeds slower. I am not a spring chicken, and I began thinking that my slower pace was the effect of being another year older. This thought made me sad as the weeks progressed and I struggled more and more to complete even shorter routes. My legs felt weak, my lungs overworked, and my stamina seemed non-existent. I was beginning to lose the joy of riding. Until today.

Friction

Today while riding my bicycle, I found my speed again! My legs felt strong, and I felt excited to ride like I had in years past. What changed, you may ask? Did I suddenly regress in age? Was I amped up on sugary cereals before my ride? Was it caffeine? No, there were no performance enhancers in my system on this day. I remembered what every beginner cyclist knows so well. Check the air pressure in the tires. Now, I am no physicist, but I do understand the concepts of friction and drag. The flatter tires, the more friction with the road, the greater the drag, the harder the ride.

Air Pressure

The loss of air pressure in my bicycle tires had happened so gradually that I had not noticed. Since most of my rides occur early in the morning, in the dark, my tires did not look low to my sleepy eyes either. Yet over those weeks, 30% of the tire pressure had disappeared without my knowledge. I had neglected the most fundamental maintenance a bicycle requires. Check the tire’s air pressure regularly.

Spiritual Apathy

Spiritual apathy follows the exact same principle. If we neglect the basic maintenance of our spiritual health, we will slowly lose the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We may begin to question our testimony, or if God really loves us, or if we have any worth at all. Eventually, we may begin to lose the joy we once felt in life. Elder M. Russell Ballard taught, “As I read and ponder the scriptures and carefully consider the Lord’s counsel to His followers in every dispensation of time, it appears to me that the most important thing every one of us can do is to examine our own commitment and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must carefully guard against spiritual apathy and work to maintain the full measure of our loving loyalty to the Lord.”

Maintenance

So, what are the maintenance steps we should take to ensure we remain spiritually healthy and ready for what life brings us? There are small and simple steps we can take to maintain our spiritual health, just like checking the air pressure in our tires. Maintenance items can and should include daily meaningful scripture study, pondering, frequent prayer, and partaking of the Sacrament. We should monitor the types of entertainment in which we indulge our brains and limit the amount of time spent on social media apps. We can attend the temple, do family history, perform service, volunteer at a food pantry, and feed the missionaries. In Doctrine and Covenants 64:33 we are taught that “out of small things proceedeth that which is great.”

Testimony

Does it help? It is my testimony that our spiritual performance, like that of my bike ride this morning, can be greatly improved. If we put in practice the “small things” each day, we will become stronger and more resilient to the growing darkness around us. We will find joy in life. We will have peace in turbulent times, and we will be a light to others. Now, is the time to pump up those tires!