midnight thoughts

Waking around 3 AM I had this thought: "The Sermon on the Mount is like the snow on Mario Kart." In my groggy state I sorta giggled at the silliness of that thought and went back to sleep. Yet the thought stayed with me. In the morning it was still there. Like Mary, I pondered this in my heart and contemplated on what that might mean to me. What snow on Mario Kart? I really didn't even remember a race where there was falling snow. I mean honestly, my only clear recollections of Mario Kart racing at all are the scenes where I am racing frantically over a ravine or an abyss or over the side of "Rainbow Road," - into the dark space of nothingness...
and then I remembered.
I can't even tell you what race it is but there is one scene where the racers all plummet over moguls and hills to a pathway thick with white snow. The pathway has a clear snow-free lane but unless you are a pro racer like my sons, you will plow headfirst into a thick wall of snow. When this happens, the vehicle slows to a mild crawl and the other racers fly by- whooping, laughing, yelling Mario-Land obscenities. So what does this have to do with the Sermon on the Mount? This morning during Pastor Steve's sermon I made the connection. Jesus is the "stone that makes them stumble and the rock that makes them fall." His words were "refreshing" to some and "blasphemous" to others. Of anything that I may read in the gospels, the Sermon on the Mount is the "snow" that slows me down. It is the teaching that gives me pause. It is the pill that is hard to swallow (if I may run with other metaphors) and the rumble-strip that wakes me up. It is my greatest conviction. On this road of life, I am running the race with agility and speed. When I peruse the Gospels, I read with ease and acceptance. When I come to the Sermon on the Mount, I am aware of my need for life-change. The snow sticks on my wheels and I slow down. I hear the words of Jesus, I look into His "upside-down" gospel, I realize the space between the example He set and the life that I live.
It slows me down... but that's a good thing.
I may not come in first place in this race. I can choose the snow-free lane. But I can also choose to run into the snow, be slowed down, and contemplate my next race.