2023
This was one heckuva week.
High highs.
Low lows.
I’m so grateful to be with my people at Peace Presbyterian Church and The Acts 13 Network tomorrow.
Tonight, my guy Todd Waller came over and just hung out. It was good for my soul.
Friends, I’ve witnessed community at its absolute best over the last week. I hope you have a community of people in your life. If you don’t, I’d love to share mine with you. They are amazing!
I can’t seem to escape the question, “What’s so amazing about grace?”
I want it to be simple. But it’s not.
So what do you think? What makes grace amazing?
#Wordle 831 4/6*
🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟨🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
It will be interinteresting to see if the Old Gal beats me!
“Friendship is a much underestimated aspect of spirituality. It’s every bit as significant as prayer and fasting. Like the sacramental use of water and bread and wine, friendship takes what’s common in human experience and turns it into something holy.”
📚: Eugene Peterson, Leap Over A Wall
“Love—God’s love in particular—is fundamental to the world’s existence. Love is the background against which everything else is played…”
📚: Leap Over A Wall by Eugene Peterson
I began my journey toward physical fitness with a commitment to walk fifteen minutes per day. My thinking was that I could do anything for fifteen minutes. Rarely did I walk for less than twenty minutes. Almost always, I walked at least thirty.
The Journey - The Crew
We aren't made to walk the path alone.
I began my journey toward physical fitness with a commitment to walk fifteen minutes per day. My thinking was that I could do anything for fifteen minutes. I was right. Rarely did I walk for less than twenty minutes. Almost always, I walked at least thirty.
I had, in my excitement over such a plan, decided to invite some close friends to hold me accountable. My walk needed to be done by 10 pm or they were free to give me all the grief!
At some point in my walking, I pulled a muscle. I could barely walk. But, I persevered. I can do anything for fifteen minutes.
During that time, it was all I could do to walk around the block. I had a dip in the hip but absolutely no glide in the stride. One evening, I had decided that after mowing the lawn I had had enough for the day.
I then made a fatal mistake. I told my close friends that I was counting the mowing as my walk.
In the words of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, “Big mistake, huge, BIG!”
“You made a commitment to walk. Your commitment was not to mow.”
I raged. I argued. I walked.
Never in my life had I been actually held accountable to anything.
These friends loved me enough to hold me accountable to the commitment I had made. I really didn't like them when they did. Yet, they held their ground and pushed me to walk. They wanted me to succeed. In that moment they wanted me to hold to my commitment more than I did.
I walked!
—
There is a passage in the ancient text that goes like this,
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)”
This is written right after the writer lists out a number of people who had lived and died in faith. They were the “who's who” of the Old Testament. These people persevered in their faith and made up the “great cloud of witnesses,” along with countless others.
It is interesting to me that when he writes about persevering through the race he sets the call in the context of a “great cloud of witnesses.”
The community of faith, the cloud of witnesses, were the context from which the author calls people to press on and persevere.
—
We are not made to be alone. It is not good for us to be alone. We need community. We need a cloud of witnesses.
In my pursuit of fitness (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational) I have become keenly aware of my need for a cloud of witnesses. This cloud of witnesses I call my “crew.” These are the people that I have learned to trust with all of who I am. I have invited them into my life and given them the go ahead to hold me accountable.
When I don't want to persevere, I reach out to these people and they encourage me to walk on.
A community of people who are truly involved in your life will eventually make you very angry because they will not let you get away with quitting. To quit, to stop walking, is the one thing that is unacceptable to them. This crew of mine reminds me of my commitments, to be sure, but more than that, they remind me of who I am and who I want to be.
My identity is not shaped in isolation. It is shaped in community. My crew reminds me of who I am and these reminders give me the hope to carry on.
The journey towards fitness necessitates a crew of people who walk with you.
Who is your crew? Will they ensure that you walk on?
—
*And love is not the easy thing The only baggage that you can bring And love is not the easy thing The only baggage you can bring Is all that you can't leave behind
And if the darkness is to keep us apart And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off And if your glass heart should crack And for a second you turn back Oh no, be strong
Walk on, walk on What you got they can't steal it No, they can't even feel it Walk on, walk on Stay safe tonight* – U2
The Journey - The Crew
We aren't made to walk the path alone.
I began my journey toward physical fitness with a commitment to walk fifteen minutes per day. My thinking was that I could do anything for fifteen minutes. I was right. Rarely did I walk for less than twenty minutes. Almost always, I walked at least thirty.
I had, in my excitement over such a plan, decided to invite some close friends to hold me accountable. My walk needed to be done by 10 pm or they were free to give me all the grief!
At some point in my walking, I pulled a muscle. I could barely walk. But, I persevered. I can do anything for fifteen minutes.
During that time, it was all I could do to walk around the block. I had a dip in the hip but absolutely no glide in the stride. One evening, I had decided that after mowing the lawn I had had enough for the day.
I then made a fatal mistake. I told my close friends that I was counting the mowing as my walk.
In the words of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, “Big mistake, huge, BIG!”
“You made a commitment to walk. Your commitment was not to mow.”
I raged. I argued. I walked.
Never in my life had I been actually held accountable to anything.
These friends loved me enough to hold me accountable to the commitment I had made. I really didn't like them when they did. Yet, they held their ground and pushed me to walk. They wanted me to succeed. In that moment they wanted me to hold to my commitment more than I did.
I walked!
—
There is a passage in the ancient text that goes like this,
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)”
This is written right after the writer lists out a number of people who had lived and died in faith. They were the “who's who” of the Old Testament. These people persevered in their faith and made up the “great cloud of witnesses,” along with countless others.
It is interesting to me that when he writes about persevering through the race he sets the call in the context of a “great cloud of witnesses.”
The community of faith, the cloud of witnesses, were the context from which the author calls people to press on and persevere.
—
We are not made to be alone. It is not good for us to be alone. We need community. We need a cloud of witnesses.
In my pursuit of fitness (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational) I have become keenly aware of my need for a cloud of witnesses. This cloud of witnesses I call my “crew.” These are the people that I have learned to trust with all of who I am. I have invited them into my life and given them the go ahead to hold me accountable.
When I don't want to persevere, I reach out to these people and they encourage me to walk on.
A community of people who are truly involved in your life will eventually make you very angry because they will not let you get away with quitting. To quit, to stop walking, is the one thing that is unacceptable to them. This crew of mine reminds me of my commitments, to be sure, but more than that, they remind me of who I am and who I want to be.
My identity is not shaped in isolation. It is shaped in community. My crew reminds me of who I am and these reminders give me the hope to carry on.
The journey towards fitness necessitates a crew of people who walk with you.
Who is your crew? Will they ensure that you walk on?
—
*And love is not the easy thing The only baggage that you can bring And love is not the easy thing The only baggage you can bring Is all that you can't leave behind
And if the darkness is to keep us apart And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off And if your glass heart should crack And for a second you turn back Oh no, be strong
Walk on, walk on What you got they can't steal it No, they can't even feel it Walk on, walk on Stay safe tonight* – U2
As I continue to work on getting this social feed back up and running, I am wondering if cross posting works.
The Journey - Perseverance Over Perfection
What if we valued perseverance over being perfect?
Sophia was walking through the forest with her friend Avil. As they were walking and talking she stubbed her toe on a root that had broken through the path. She stumbled and exclaimed her shock and surprise. She regained her footing and they continued walking.
A little bit later, Avil stubbed his toe as well. He cried out and then found another root and stubbed his other toe. When he did, he tripped and skinned his knee. He was distraught and threw himself down the side of a hill where he broke his leg. As rolled down the hill he also skinned his knee. So, he took a rock and broke his other arm.
It didn't take long before Sophia realized that the walk was over.
—
This parable is ridiculous! Avil (the Hebrew word for fool) is beyond foolish. Nobody would ever stub their toe and then go on to break their leg. Not to mention all the other ridiculous responses he made. Most of us likely see ourselves in Sophia, she stubs her toe and then continues on. That just makes sense, right?
Here's the crazy thing, if I'm honest, Avil is a reflection of me.
Over the years I've tried all kinds of things to lose weight and to pursue physical health.
Without fail, I've fallen short of my “plan.” When I did, I would throw my hands up and say, “Well, I blew it. Might as well enjoy it!” So what would I do? I'd get the famous number two from McDonald's, (two cheeseburgers, large fry, and a Coke) or I'd get a large pizza. I mean, why not? I have messed up the diet anyway.
You see, when it came to pursuing physical health my mindset has been, “perfection or nothing.” If I couldn't be perfect, I might as well just indulge.
There was no in between.
All or nothing.
I can trace this all or nothing approach through my pursuit of emotional health, spiritual health, and relational health too.
Health has always been a goal, a pursuit, something that I sought to attain. So, if I wasn't perfect then I was a failure. If I failed, then why press on?
I was all about perfection over perseverance.
—
The Apostle Paul wrote, “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. (Philippians 3:12-14, The Message)”
Paul was someone who was aware of the reality that life isn't a zero sum game. Inherent in what he writes here is the reality that life is a process. Becoming mature in his faith was not something that he was necessarily going to succeed at. It was a journey that he was on.
Notice also, that there was failure baked into what Paul said. Paul seems to be saying, “I fail too! I fall short too! But I press on!”
Perseverance is more important than perfection.
—
I will never be perfect. I will never have a perfect streak of eating well or exercising or being a good friend or being emotionally fit. But, instead of quitting I need to embrace the way of Sophia and recover my footing and keep hiking.
Something that I think that has been an important lesson is to learn the subtle shift from thinking about health to thinking about fitness.
Mental fitness. Physical fitness. Spiritual fitness. Emotional fitness. Relational fitness.
Fitness doesn't have an end. It's a goal to strive toward but you never really attain it. You never arrive at the end of fitness. So, you keep on pressing on. Straining toward the goal.
No turning back!
If the journey is the goal and the goal is the journey then all we really have is perseverance.
Perfection is not something that we will ever find. If not being perfect derails the journey then I will never be able to move forward.
Because I am on a journey that has no end there is only the option of pressing on. Getting a little better each day. Even when there's a step backward it's not the end. I can regain my footing like Sophia and keep walking.
Perseverance over perfection.