Lessons for life from a motorbike

BY FR ANTHONY NDANG NDICHIA MHM

When I was in high school in Cameroon I had a part-time job. It was a lucrative job which gave me some ready money. I had a motorbike taxi business, locally known as benskin or akada (motorbike). Behind the motorbike was a sign with an attractive motto: “Door-to-Door Express”. I transported people from one location to the other, from house to house, from hospital to home, from office to office, from home to home — in short, from door to door.

“The door of faith is always open.” Acts 14:27

I came to know people’s doors and their ways of life, their businesses, work, faith, relationships, those who had two or more girlfriends or boyfriends, cheats, gossips, liars, rich and poor, committed Christians and so on.

People trusted me and would send me to carry out transactions for them. It was an eye-opening time; I saw the reality of everyday life. But beyond this, I discovered that the legend on my motorbike became famous. Every one called me “Door-to-Door”.

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI used the image of the door, in the document announcing the Year of Faith, to describe what faith is about.

“The door of faith (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church,” Pope Benedict wrote. “The threshold is crossed when the Word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace.”

Today I look back with much gratitude on my motorbike business. My experiences paid off.

Now in South Africa as a missionary priest, I do the motorbike business in another form. I still do the door-to-door ministry, transporting people of different nations and races to God.

People have opened their doors, hearts and lives to me.

Could this be actually what the Year of Faith, which will conclude at the end of this month, was inviting me and you to do? To know and love Christ and to have a personal and undivided relationship with him and with others. This is faith in practice.

During those years of the door-to-door business, many unexpected things happened, hitting me like a bolt of lightning. But one day, with the reality of life teeming around me, I was presented with a scrap of paper upon which was written a set of “Teenage Good Rules”. I have kept this treasure over the years, well beyond my teenage existence. It has proved to be a decisive tool in my life journey of faith.

The “Teenage Good Rules” advised the following:

Don’t let your parents down; they brought you up.

Be humble enough to obey; you may give orders some day.

Treasure your time; don’t spend it — invest it.

Be master of your habits, or they will master you.

Choose your companions with care; you may be choosing your mate.

Don’t show off when you drive: the speed that thrills, kills.

Stand for what is right; don’t fall for all in sight.

Go to church faithfully; make your first steps — church steps.

To Christ be wholly true; he gave his life for you.