Release Date: January 14th, 2026Backwards Ride
- by Cathrin van Sintern-Dick
My first memories of riding a bike are of sitting behind my mother on her bike, on a round pillow that made it slightly more comfortable as we hurried to a birthday party we were late for. A quick ride later — and without my feet or legs getting tangled in the wheels — I was there.
In the years that followed, the bike became my main mode of transportation, and when we moved to Montreal in 1984, we might have been the only family doing grocery runs on our bikes.
Knowing about something is not the same as knowing how to do it. Even when we understand the theory, deeply ingrained habits are hard to change.
Fast-forward to 2003. Once again I was riding a bike, this time in Leamington along a busy country highway. Somehow it wasn’t a comfortable ride — not because it was difficult, but because it felt unsettling to ride next to big trucks along Hwy 77.
Over Christmas, we watched a video called The Backwards Brain Bicycle. It demonstrates something simple yet profound: knowing about something is not the same as knowing how to do it. Even when we understand the theory, deeply ingrained habits are hard to change. New pathways — whether in our brains or in our lives — require patience, practice, and persistence, much like learning a new language, understanding a new culture, or learning to move with ease in a new context.
My bike-riding days came to an end, not because I don’t like riding anymore but because it felt less safe. The context had changed. With more bike lanes there is hope for me.
Learning and unlearning of culture is part of our church family, might that be due to our cultural background, changes in demographics within the congregation, or due to wider changes in our society.
We may know what faithfulness, reconciliation, or justice should look like, but learning to live them takes time.
I wonder about this cloud of witnesses and their lives — the learning and unlearning the early church went through, the new things they discovered together, the old things they kept, and the quiet, new learning they brought that ended up shaping society.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders… and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Hebrews 12:1.
We may know what faithfulness, reconciliation, or justice should look like, but learning to live them — unlearning and relearning, especially in an ever-changing world — takes time. It takes humility, courage, and a willingness to feel challenged without being defeated, to listen attentively without preconceived ideas, and to stay curious.
My hope for our churches is that we continue learning together how to “ride our bikes” in new ways, even when it feels wobbly — supporting one another as we stumble, celebrating progress, and trusting that God is at work in the unlearning of the old and the relearning of the new.
- Cathrin van Sintern-Dick is an MCEC Regional Minister