Road trip to Rawson and Baw Baw

Friday October 19 2018 was a warm and sunny day. And I'm on holiday, so it's a perfect combination to get on the bike and get into the hills.

The view from the balcony at Mt Baw Baw

Travelling the dirt road between Mt Baw Baw and Rawson is something I haven't done before, but a comment on netrider a little while ago has led me to believe I probably could ride it with no real worries. But there was a lot of corners to get around before hitting the dirt.

He's a great cat. But . . .

I had a plan, but as normally happens, the morning didn't go to plan. I was going to put the airhawk on to the bike and get going, but when I picked it up from inside, I realised that our cat had marked his territory. If you have a male cat, you probably know just how unpleasant that stench can be, so it was out with a bucket of soapy water to see what I could do. That is never a quick job. So it was washed and dripping wet. What to do? I decided to take it with me under the cargo net to let it dry as I rode for the first stretch. Byt then the seat will be really uncomfortable, the Airhawk would be dry, and I'd be ready to put it on.

That turned out to be a good plan.

The other thing that didn't quite go to plan was using Rever on an old phone. Rever is an app I'm trying to get used to but have had some frustrations with. Turns out that some of these frustrations are because the old phone can't handle it now. Time was lost, but now I know.

I finally got out of the house just after 8.30am and headed east. Stopped in Launching Place to fill up and abandoned the old phone for my usual phone. Rever worked nicely here and I was able to follow the blue line for the curvy roads. I know these roads reasonably well anyway, but this makes it a good place to test these apps.

Rode through Powelltown and stopped in Noojee for a stretch and to put the Airhawk on the seat. I really like my bike, but the seat can be a killer for a long trip. Now with the Airhawk, it's like sitting on a cloud.

From here I rode toward Tanjil Ben and took the turn off to Moe to ride a road I've not used before. It was gorgeous. A wonderful forest road surrounded by magnificent trees and then at the top of the hill there were views that just seemed to go forever. I'll be back here at some point. Blue Rock Lake looks beautiful and it was worth the effort to stop here even just for a moment. Another spot worth visiting in the future.

 

Then it was up the hill to Rawson. I've been involved in a few camps at Rawson Village, so I know this part of the road reasonably well, and it is a very enjoyable ride. If you haven't enjoyed this road yet, do it when you can. I stopped at Rawson for lunch which was - how shall I put this nicely - disappointing.

I had planned to make some lunch to take with me so I could stop anywhere and enjoy it. But that time was lost this morning, so I needed to buy some food instead. Now I've visited the Rawson general store before, and I knew it wasn't going to be a food experience worthy of the Good Food Guide. But I don't think I've ever had a pie and potato cake as bad as this. But there aren't too many options here, and I needed to eat something before heading to Mt Baw Baw.

It was nice to sit under a tree for a while though.

From there it was the South Face Road to Mt Baw Baw. A few years ago I had come from the other direction and when I realised this was unsealed, I turned back. Today I faced the dirt, and it was fine. Yes, the road bike and road tyres make for a few uncertain moments, and the newly laid and very loose gravel early on was a little more 'exciting' than I had hoped for, but the surface is good and the road is wide. It was good to get to the end and then up to Mt Baw Baw for some more sustenance.

The view from the cafe here is magnificent. I wasn't too keen to sit in the sun and the shady balcony was a much better option.

From here it was down the hill, back to Noojee before a short stop in Powelltown. Always a good place to rest. I did realise that I was just focusing on the road and not enjoying the scenery, so that was a good reminder to slow down and enjoy where I was rather than rushing to get somewhere else.

When I got home my wife was a little reluctant to give me a welcoming kiss, which was a little worrying until she told me that I had bugs all over my face, stuck in my beard and around my mouth. I suppose that shows how much I enjoyed the ride.

About 344 kms and nearly 9 hours. It seems like a slow journey to use that much time. Worth it though.

 

See original map here which was created with Kurviger.

Church is one of the least safe places to acknowledge abuse because . .

How would you complete the title?

I've never heard of Rachael Denhollander. She would be one of the billions of people on earth who I never meet and never hear of. Except she did something that made her stand out from the crowd of billions. She spoke up. You see, Rachael was one of those young women who was being abused by Larry Nasser - a Gymnastics team doctor. When she eventually gained the courage to speak up, the ensuing court action revealed Nasser had abused at least 150 young women. He has now been sentenced for 175 years.

Her testimony was the last to be shared in the courtroom. In it she speaks of forgiveness and hope that is found in Jesus Christ. As such, many Christian news services picked up on the story with great enthusiasm. But if you read the article in Christianity Today, you see that there is much more to her story than just forgiveness. The heading of the article reveals as such:

My Larry Nassar Testimony Went Viral. But There’s More to the Gospel Than Forgiveness.

I encourage you to read the interview and see how she responds to questions with grace and with conviction. That would be better than me summarising.

What I do want to do is to bring out a few things she says and consider the implications of them for church leaders across the world.

1. How do we respond?

"Church is one of the least safe places to acknowledge abuse because the way it is counseled is, more often than not, damaging to the victim."

Ouch. This is a confronting statement to many of us, because this is not our aim. We want to help the victim, but we also want to help the accused, particularly if he/she is a member of our Christian community. What can we do?

Learn.

Learn how to counsel people when they disclose the abuse they have received.

Learn how abusers act. It's distressing, but we can't hide under ignorance anymore.

2. Does theology matter?

 "One of the dynamics that you see in a Christian church that is particularly devastating is poor theology."

We're not talking about baptism or worship or music here. This is about the theology that leads us to fail to help victims of abuse. Denhollander is gracious and comments, "often, if not always, people are motivated by poor theology and a poor understanding of grace and repentance and that causes them to handle sexual assault in a way where that a lot of predators go unchecked, often for decades."

Does your theology allow for justice to be sought for people like Rachael Denhollander? Or are you one who thinks that she and people like her should just forgive her attacker and forget it ever happened?  If so, what does that say about the many (countless even) others who are also abused?

3. Waiting to act can have devastating consequences.

"out of the seven days’ worth of hearings, the vast, vast majority of us came after those first reports of abuse in 1997."

So many girls were abused by Nasser because the first reports weren't acted on. Now, I know that the attitudes of 2018 are very, very different to the attitudes of 1997. I know that many things that weren't reported or acted on in 1997 would be acted on now. But to imagine how many girls and families could have been spared the horror of abuse if that first report had been acted on must now weigh heavily on those who chose not to do anything in 1997.

May God give them hope.

4. How much is a little girl worth?

 "From a Christian worldview, she’s made in the image of God. She has eternal and immeasurable value."

Amen. As such, we who are in leadership in the church must do all we can to protect young ones.

Rather than try to conclude, I'll quote the final two paragraphs of the interview. Rachael was asked if there is anything else you want the readers to know. Here is her answer. 

First, the gospel of Jesus Christ does not need your protection. It defies the gospel of Christ when we do not call out abuse and enable abuse in our own church. Jesus Christ does not need your protection; he needs your obedience. Obedience means that you pursue justice and you stand up for the oppressed and you stand up for the victimized, and you tell the truth about the evil of sexual assault and the evil of covering it up.

 Second, that obedience costs. It means that you will have to speak out against your own community. It will cost to stand up for the oppressed, and it should. If we’re not speaking out when it costs, then it doesn’t matter to us enough.

It costs to speak out against abuse. Speak out anyway.