The “Telosing” of a Marathon; a 42.195 Km Story from Start to Finish. 

As a 19 year old girl in the USMC living in Southern Spain, I had a dream to run a marathon. In fact, I was going to run in Marathon; Greece! The Marine Corps team was excited until we learned that it was sponsored by the Greek Communist party. The marathon dream faded and life marched forward.

As the years passed running remained a joy to me and so in my fortieth year (when I made a conscientious decision to focus on joy) I began to train again for the 26.2 mile race. It was April, training was going great and our family was in Laos supporting our girls' soccer team. One morning on a run through Vientiane, I turned my head to catch a landmark to find my way back to our hotel and I fell off the end of a sidewalk seriously damaging my left foot. Russell carried me and my swollen ice-packed foot for 5 days until we returned to Thailand where doctors confirmed the torn tendons and my lessons in walking with crutches began. I did not know if I would ever run again. I did not lose heart but did shed a lot of tears and was taught the lesson of how physical training is good for some things but training is godliness profits not only this life but the life to come…one of the many verses I covered now that I sat in my garden instead of worked in it.

I began to condition in the pool since I could not put weight on my foot. Several months later I was so thankful to lace up my running shoes and do the first lap around the kiddos' soccer field and eventual regained flexibility and strength in the injured foot. Shortly after my birthday this year, an idea came to me that this was the year for my marathon—I was turning 42 and the race is 42 Km so it just made sense! J I discovered that Chiang Mai was having a marathon the end of December so in September I found on-line marathon training for 16 weeks and excitedly I charted out what would be my course for training.

The training was wonderful. A group of ladies began to join me in the pool for water-aerobics so that became fun cross-training. Each day that I would run I logged in my distances (and sometimes my times) and each week the distances grew as would my endurance and love of running. Chiang Mai is beautiful and I was truly blessed with some awesome scenic runs in new territory, some through mountains, parks, zoos, city streets and other times on long flat stretches through rice fields. Training also provided runs in weather that I might not have naturally chosen to run in—down pouring rain, hot sun blistering afternoons, and cold see-your-breath kind of early mornings. God also blessed me with a friend who likes to run like I do and we enjoyed many long runs together talking about life, praying about life and running through the stunning creation that made up our life.

Because the training lasted for over 4 months this meant that I ran outside of Chiang Mai as well. October found me loving runs through the most beautiful time in Michigan with the smell of fall, the brilliant richness of the changing colors and the crunch of leaves under my feet. Finding a suitable place to run in Bangkok had me running laps around the parking areas of the mall where our Thai-boxing friend was competing for the world championship. Most recently while in China I was captivated by running through Green Lake Park in Kunming. The park was alive with the magic of migrating seagulls from Siberia. Each step was a panorama of various music styles as people practiced Tai Chi to tradition Chinese music, line dancing to country music, some enjoyed the tango, while others exercised with flags and swords or played badminton or basketball. An incredible treat for all the senses and an i-pod had no purpose on a day like that! I told Russell this morning on the way to the marathon that the actual race was all bonus as I have so enjoyed all the training leading up to this day…but that is getting ahead of myself so I will go back just a day or so J.

After Christmas in China I had one last 10K run with my running partner and then she presented me with a "marathon box" filled with goodies for the race…special power bars, raisins and cranberries, Gatorade, counter-pain, and wheat pasta with a delicious home-made sauce. After dinner and my evening walk with Russell, Isaiah joined us for watching the motivating movie "Chariots of Fire" and with my clothes all laid out for the morning (I chose orange so no one would run me over J), I was sleeping peacefully almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. This was a real answer to prayer as the night before I was up each hour running the race in my mind.

The alarm went off at 2:45 am, I read back over the admonishment from Hebrews 12:1-2 about running the race with eyes fixed on Jesus, read the encouraging note Hannah left on the white board and by 3:10 we were on our way to the middle of the city's moat at Tha Phae gate. Deciding what shoes to wear was a challenge (both were orange so either would work with my shirt J): the Nike's were great for arch support but in long runs blistered my toes, while the Thai brand gave plenty of toe room but lacked in support. I went with the Pan's and joked with Russell that who knows, maybe a local rep would see me run so fast and hire me on to represent their shoes… promising career option ? J

Tha Phae gate area was alight with a million paper lanterns and the smell of counter-pain filled the air which was thankfully not as cold as I had thought it would be. We registered for the race and were blessed with getting to pay the local Thai rate (maybe they noticed my Thai shoes J). Russell pinned my racing number on my shirt (40-for age group and 7 for individual) and even though I'm not big on stretching, I pretended to stretch out until we lined up behind the start/finish line. Russell took photos; I was all smiles by now no longer nervous but just so excited to really be there.

The gun shot at 4:00am and began what was my very first marathon. Having raced over the years in distances from 8-13 Km, I was familiar with the feelings of adrenaline and increased heart rate all the while remembering reading it was best to start off slow. Right before we began I spotted a petite Thai lady in my age group that always finished ahead of me at other races, and my initial plan was to keep her in my sights… that lasted for less than 4 Km J.

It was an interesting start running through the bar districts getting cheered on by those who were just finishing up their night on the town. We passed the Psychiatric hospital and I kind of laughed wondering if it was crazy to want to run a marathon but I was getting into my groove and was feeling good. My breathing was smooth and nothing hurt… it was super! Rounding a corner leading out of town south on the long canal road a tiny lady and her running partner passed me and I admired the ease at which she ran. Things were going great and I was so thankful. I started to begin my ABC prayers in which I think of someone whose name starts with A then pray for them, then on to B and so on. Well, the heavy breathing and loud footsteps of a herd of men began to distract me (noises like that make me tired too) so I zipped on ahead and began to chat with the lady with the nice pace. We talked along in Thai for some time enjoying each other's company then she asked if could speak English because she was from Singapore so English was her first language and her Thai was not so good. We laughed and found out more about each other. Her pace was steady and strong and stretched me.

When we came to the 11 K mark, I introduced Russell to my new friend and he was surprised at how soon I reached that point as it was probably my fastest time yet. My vision was to keep in step with her, breathing in and out and chatting our way to the finish…I reasoned I would let her cross the line first as I was so glad for her companionship J What a treat it was to pass by so many familiar sites and God brought different days back to my mind…I could not believe I was really running a marathon—I was so thankful. I even remember thinking how I did not want it all to end too soon J

Well, that feeling ended way too soon and I had a lot of race yet to run! My pace dropped and I began to feel tired. It helped a lot to see Russell again and some friends from house church cheering me on and I was ready to begin sipping my sports drink which re-hydrated me and prepared me for the entrance to the king's floral garden. For some reason, there were no lights lit within the large beautifully landscaped garden so turns were pointed out along the way by guards with flashlights. At this time I was running solo and thankful for the i-pod Russell gave me along the way which boosted my spirit. He bought the i-pod shuffle that just clips on my visor earlier in Dec for my training and what fun I have had as songs cycle through from old-timey gospel to German polkas to contemporary Christian favorites to love songs in Spanish. I came to a cross-road and was not sure which way to go when I heard a guard call my name and told me to turn to the right… wow, how did that happen?! Then I heard myself kind of yell out because I had tripped on the dark uneven pavement and thought my race had ended… I was so relived to catch myself and kept running on. The terrain through the garden-park was very hilly, twisty and unfamiliar as the only time I ran that area was back when the roads were dirt and first being build…and it was in daylight.

Time passed and I started to see racers back-track so I knew the turn-around point in the garden was coming. Another lady and I passed each other back and forth so I began to visit with her, but she did not speak Thai as she came from Malaysia (and ended up coming in runner-up). The sun started to come up and what a radiant glow it gave to the garden as I turned around and began making my way back through the different displays in honor of the king from various countries. Now I could see the statues that I had early said hello to thinking they were guards J. By now my legs where getting rubber-like and my throat was parched. I passed by my personal direction giver from earlier and now that it was light, I recognized him as our neighborhood gate guard from several years ago.

The movie "Chariots of Fire" about Eric Liddel passed through my mind and it hit me that Eric would not have run this race as it was on a Sunday. I pondered that for a while and my pace became slower and my head began to hurt. I passed limping runners whose legs had cramped up and sad for them and had an odd sense of gratitude for not experiencing that kind of pain….then began to wonder if and when cramping might come. Then just when I needed it, I saw my full crew up around a curve just outside of the garden. How happy I was! They lied and said I was looking great so I began feeling great again too. Hannah cheered me on. Sophie handed me a fresh bottle of sports drink. More photos were taken. Isaiah took up running beside me and my pace picked up again. I was proud to tell the runners that were passing us that it was my son running with me…one racer told me I should talk less J

We were now back on the long canal road with about 30 Km under my tired feet (maybe I should have chosen the shoes with better support) and another 12 K yet to go. Those were the hard kilometers. In my training my longest run was 33 K so this was all uncharted territory for me. With the i-pod turned off I chatted along with Isaiah as he patiently used his long legs for baby-step running.

We passed through an area that was thick in smoke which was hard on the lungs even with covering my face with my shirt. The racers were more spread out now and each kilometer seemed more like a mile. Russell had moved my cheering crew further ahead and encouraged me to keep the good steady pace saying I was right at my goal…my only goal at that point was to finish. J Up ahead of us was a Thai grandmother who for some reason was trotting down the side of the road with her arms clutching her purse. Laughing, I thought at least I should be able to pass this granny and when I did I told her she was a pretty fast runner, which made her smile J.

Isaiah said I should try listening again to some music but the morning noise and traffic had increased making hearing the songs a challenge. We counted off the distance and estimated how much longer yet to go, visualizing the course before us. Passing a market alive with the smells of Thai breakfast my stomach let me know food was something I did not need right then. A slow waltz started playing in my ears so Isaiah reached up and fast-forwarded the music to a peppy polka which helped some with our pace. When we got to the moat we knew the end was near. And I was so glad! Everything was hurting…even areas I had never had pain in were now crying out for attention. Isaiah reminded me of the passage from Isaiah 40 about running and not growing weary and God gave us strength to focus and run on.

Russell had dropped Sophie off and she joined us in the final 4 Km… all smiles, she said she liked our slow pace J. I gave up on the i-pod and with Sophie on the right and Isaiah on the left we maneuvered through the busy city traffic only once almost getting hit by a truck. The route took us from the top of the moat to a right turn going to the center of the moat then we saw Russell jogging toward us. He began blocking our traffic and my body guards and I ran forward passing the 3 Kings Monument. The cell phone rang and I heard Russell say it will be about another 5 minutes. That was music to my ears! He had me focus on a traffic cone marking our final turn and the running surface became a tricky brick-laid road. We made the turn and the finish line was now in sight!

I felt like a horse heading for a barn and renewed energy came. As Russell began singing out cadence …left right left, I thought back to the USMC days and how I first wanted to run a marathon and now I was about to finish one! Excitement built with each step and I surprised myself with the strong finish running right up passed Hannah taking photos and the young boy standing at the finish line handing out to me a golden finisher's medal. Both arms up in the air, I was so thankful to God for the race, for the whole experience leading up to it, so thankful for my family and the loving support each one had shown to me and… so thankful that it was finished! J I laughed, I cried; my body shook. What a full day it had been…and it was only 8:30 in the morning!

After hugging everyone and drinking some wonderfully needed water I looked at the medal and with it was a card saying I had placed 3^rd in my age group! Bonus on top of bonus! As we waited for the award ceremony Russell rubbed me down with counter-pain as all the muscles in my body had began tensing up and now that I was still I also started feeling the coldness of the morning. More friends from our house church came at the end and graciously listened to some of the race details. Soon I was up on the stage with the king of Thailand's photo 20 times bigger than life as the back-drop. A Thai lady took first place (the one that always does J), a Malaysian lady in second, me in third and a lady from Sweden was honored for forth. The Thai winner led me to pick up a pink marathon T-shirt, we took a few more photos to remember the event and then we gratefully headed for home. A quick shower and we were back in the car again now on our way to house church. Arriving just a few minutes late everyone cheered me… how can I help but smile and be thankful. Yummy mango cheese cake, cinnamon rolls, and poppy seed cake never tasted so guilt-free! J

Thank you for indulging me; I know the time to read this all is almost as long as it took me to run it all. But as I decided that this was both my first and last marathon so I did not want to forget the many little details that made it all so special. And I wanted to share the joy with you. Thank you for running along side of me with your thoughts, prayers and encouraging messages all along the way. It is an experience I will never forget! To answer the question, "Are you sure you don't want to run another marathon?" My reply: No need--this one was so perfectly wonderful and I have telos'ed (completed) my marathon dream…. But I do look forward to lacing up my shoes and continue to explore God and His creation as long as it pleasures Him for me to do so.

Karla

Chiang Mai, Thailand

30 Dec 2007

China Spiced Life

Ken’s Q4 – the message

Ok Ken, sorry for the delay. I am traveling in China right now, but that's not what is holding me up in answering your question about how I became a Christian on mission. The problem is that I became more conscience of the fact that I am speaking through you to a variety of audiences. I imagine you knew that since I am using a blog instead of e-mail. The point is supposed to be to have a greater responsibility of integrity by being public and open. Actually, that is the cause of the delay.

The simple answer of the message is in fact Jesus. Not that helpful of a statement by itself, I agree. Let me expand. Life felt like (and still does frequently) a nauseating crush between the Ideal and the Real. I want to live in beauty, hope, nobility, fascination, energy, joy, etc. That would be the ideal. Reality? I eat more than my body needs. I get confused but hide it by being more assertive (or just withdraw). I have to make a living. There is traffic. My body is moving toward death and my mind can't quite figure that out. The Ideal and the Real intersect, but not in satisfying ways. The message I locked onto was that in immediate and ultimate ways Jesus is the hope for bringing the Ideal and the Real together. In him Heaven and Earth, Justice and Mercy and all things real and wonderful meet and arrive at shalom.

I wish that cleared everything up J! So, why not just spell it out? Religious complexity and social complexity. Some 'insiders', fellow Christians, are full-time quality control freaks (I am a recovering one). If I say part of the message, but not in the right words, proportion etc., they will lose it. Sorry religious control freak friends! But the social complexity is the cliff on the other side of the road. If I am clear and say what I really believe, that Jesus is uniquely the Lord that integrates the Ideal and the Real in legitimate ways, my out of control stay broad control freak friends will lose it. Fact is I hold to a narrow road. But, here goes.

Starting point: We were created by a Creator to be in the Creator's image: creative. That is why we love art, or if we are unable to love art directly, we love sports. Sports are an accessible form of art. The creativity of motion, expression, drive etc. excite us. Why? We are created by a Creator.

Enter the problem: But nothing is ever enough. Beauty and wonder excite us but fear and irritations incessantly invade us. Some would deny this, but hey, read your e-mail again, anyone. We all have struggles in relationship (giving and receiving appropriate love) and in general well being (money, health, etc.). The creation is broken. We are broken. We need help.

Intro of solution: Religion is the basic old story of frightened humanity looking for hope and escape. As prosperity and sophistication developed thinkers arrogantly deride that fact. Western positivism and and scientific/economic confidence has led us to a world of Realism that guts the hope of any Ideal. "Get REAL" ends up ringing in my ears as: there is no Ideal. But what if we are frightened and really do need hope? Moreover, what if there really is a way of hope that provides escape from despair and entrance into wholeness? Well, that would make sense out of our (humanity's) chronic striving for spirituality. But how do we know which solution is a solution and not just wishful thinking? What I came to pay attention to was the idea of the prophets of old.

The Hebrew prophets stand out among spiritualists. As one who has lived in the far East for over a decade, I have to say that most prophets outside of the Hebrews are more Ideal than Real. Kongzi (Confucius) is the exception but he was all about pragmatism with no transcendent Ideal to offer, by his own admission. No offense to Hindu friends intended but the essence of their thought is that the Real is in fact Not-Real. Everything we struggle with, mucked up relationships and irregular health and well being, they are all an illusion according to Hindu based thought. Hmmm. I don't see an integration of Ideal and Real, I see the Ideal smothering the Real.

The solution revealed: The Hebrew prophets point to the need for life to work and that the answer will come in a man. This man will show how life works and pronounce judgment on what is broken and salvation (rescue) on what was intended to be. The message I got hooked on was that Jesus was/is that Man. He was so much an integration of the Ideal (Kingdom of Heaven) and the Real (the creation) that he even blew the minds of those waiting for him. He was tricky. He showed power and grace in ways that were so very other to what spiritualists often went on about and he did it with people tangled in very immediate, real problems: insanity, sickness, chronic bad choices and more. All the while dealing with individuals Jesus proclaimed a view of how life should be shifted back to understanding that the Creator never left the creation, the creation has gone blind and worships among itself as if the Creator were absent. Jesus' message: Change your view of reality, God is actually in charge here and now. He developed that message with what you may have heard more often.

The solution executed: Jesus proclaimed the victory of the Ideal Reality over the less-than-ideal realities of this world. That is the cross and beyond. Here is how it works. Broadly, religion (the priests who conspired to kill Jesus) and politics (the Empire who expediently gave Jesus a dose of reality) were confronted head on. Jesus asserted that he was the Ideal (contra religious control systems, Hebrew or other) and that he was the Real (contra human efforts to control this life). Familiar saying of Jesus: I am the way, the truth and the life. The religious (human effort at controlling the ideal) and the political (human effort and controlling the real) set to prove him wrong. They humiliated him, tortured him and killed him. The cross was the human rejection of Jesus as the hope of the Ideal and Real.

Now, let me make sure and get this in. I have rebelled against the True Ideal and the Genuine Real by being foolish. That's what sin is; being spiritually stupid and mean. I have made fun of people who needed kindness. I have grabbed for what was not mine. I have shut myself off where I should not and imposed myself where I should not. I have done nice things, and I'm certainly not the worst guy to ever live, not even close. That's not the question for me, though. My question was: How can I enter into the Hope if I am always undermining the Hope by my selfishness? The short answer: Jesus not only did the macro-thing, he was also extremely personal. What I came to understand from the Scriptures was that he died with my foolishness on his soul and received the just punishment for my abuse of the heart, mind, soul and body the Creator entrusted me with. Translation: Jesus died for my sins.

The Ideal is Real: Dead Jesus meant that even his followers needed to try and find another hope (or just give into despair or delusion). But Jesus stunned everyone by showing the he was the Ideal and that he was Real. He came back from the dead, not in some ghostly way. He walked, talked, ate and made it clear: we have not been crazy to dream that there is an Ideal that could overtake our Real. There is HOPE. Jesus told his disciples: It has begun. Now carry it forward to others. Relive the story of the Ideal invading the Real by being vulnerable, rejected, but amazingly victorious in actual (real) success of hope. That's the missionary thing. Talk with people about the Ideal/Real question and explain how I believe Jesus is the answer to that question with words, yes, but most importantly with reenactment of the way of love over selfishness in the Name of the Creator.

The Real will be Ideal: Where does it end? I used to have a view pretty much like the famous/infamous "Left Behind" series. I don't anymore; too much speculation. I believe that Heaven (the Ideal, the reign of the Creator) comes to earth (the Real, the visible creation) and things will work better than even our wildest spiritual gurus have imagined. I believe that Jesus is the way to that reality (and will be revealed in his own time) and that he is the Lord of that Ideal Reality, the Kingdom of the Heavens right here among us. Not so sure about all the details but sure enough to invest my life in that direction.

That is my effort at explaining the message this morning. Lots of room for clarifying; so feel free to ask, add, challenge etc. (on the blog or in e-mail: russellm@pobox.com).

May the Shalom of the Ideal, the God the Hebrew prophets promised, be yours in Christ!

Ken’s Q3 – the messengers

Recap:

KenQ1 – atheism did not account for the craving for beauty and meaning

KenQ2 – being in Israel got me thinking: Who was this man Jesus, really?

Now, the messengers to me were quite diverse. Do you remember Deon Stauffer? He was big as a tank and gentle as kitten. He used to talk with people about God and all during mid watches. I loved to give him a hard time and ask him complicated questions I had developed back at Catholic school. He would just smile real easy and say something like "Russell, that's a tough question. I don't really know how to answer it right now. But I do know this, Jesus has meant everything to me and he loves you." That was frustrating, and a little uncomfortable. I didn't let on that it affected me, but it did. It kind of rattled around inside me, but I worked hard to ignore it and get back to the Cruzcampo.

As I was getting out of the Corps I had a couple of weeks leave so I took off for Amsterdam. Karla arranged to meet me up there a bit later, so I just kind of wandered around enjoying the improved beer. It got weird, though. Everywhere I went people stopped me to talk about Jesus: rednecks from Arkansas, Asians, African; even people from places that don't start with "A". I tried to ignore them, pretended I couldn't speak English, but they were everywhere, even singing on the tram cars! I later found out that it was the Billy Graham world evangelism conference and I was one of gobs of people with encounters like that.

Then there was Greg. I got back to Texas and saw him right after he graduated with a degree in anthropology. He talked about going to church and I couldn't believe it. He was a black belt in some really hardcore off brand Japanese martial arts, wore clothes like an Arapaho and played guitar in a surf-punk band downtown. Didn't seem like a church guy. I challenged him as a scientist (anthropology degree and all) about Noah's ark and all that stuff. Surely he couldn't be serious. But he was. He basically said he had some good answers but to those questions, but he had a better question. What should be done with Jesus? Well, that depends, what does Jesus really mean?

the Kaka' Dream

Now Kaka' is reported to have dreamed of playing in Madrid since he was a kid.

Match that with his desire to preach Jesus and his admission that he would like to get more training and the fact that I just coached the U20 CMAC GIS women's team to an undefeated championship run and that I am praying God would lead us to Spain so I could contribute to church planting in Europe in ways that affect other places as well... Is it a sign?!

I am so excited I can only write in run on sentences. Updates to follow as the saga unfolds.

Ken’s Q2 – the Man

So, Ken, the story brought me to Spain. I lived for adrenaline, like partying in general, running with the bulls in Arcos, getting in bust ups with CBs at El Rancho's. When there was no adrenaline I used cynicism and sarcasm to hold me over to the next fix. Occasionally it made for great stories; some quite funny if the people in them would have just been cartoon characters. Too often it was just lumpy and unsettled. I don't mean to betray the past; I just can't forget the toxic side of it all.

1985 in Israel things started changing. There were personal things that were my fault but also my pain. There were also events that made me more aware than ever. We were going to the sigint for a hostage rescue. While deployed the Israelis hit the PLO in Tunis with a surprise air raid. That made things tenser. During that time I was able to travel down from Haifa (Mt. Carmel) to visit Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Jordan River and more. The whole Bible shifted in my awareness. Suddenly the question was not about religious people I had met; it was about Jesus the man. Even if the Christians were wrong about who he was, he still was somebody. Who was he? Why was such a poor, unimpressively educated, politically dodgy character such a big deal so long after his death? That got me willing to learn about the man.

Ken’s curiosity about “the story of what moments or events led you to Christianity”

Ken is one of those friends you make in life that just sticks. I haven't heard anything from Ken (or him from me) since we were marines in the '80s. He is now in New Mexico. We recently reconnected via the web and were interested in who each of us have become in the last couple of decades. I sent this blog address and a brief description of life with Karla (http://www.marinekar.blogspot.com/) in reply. He responded with starting his own blog http://theluskreport.com/ . He also shared that he was "curious about the story of what moments or events led you to Christianity". Friends are awesome. No fears, just ask. Ok, friend, here is the straight up account as I remember it. I will write it in a series to keep it in short, readable bits.

It starts with a simple observation. Life hurts. It hurts because we sense it should be beautiful and wonderful, and in fleeting moments it is more beautiful than we can describe. But those moments only make the other moments, moments of frustration, misunderstanding, emotional and physical pain, tedium, anxiety and general dissatisfaction so much more painful. Why do we have such a longing for beauty and such a hard time satisfying that longing?

This question, along with many others, set me searching. Ken, when you met me I was testing a possible answer. "We long for beauty because we were gullible to stories told by wishful thinking people." I went into the USMC in part because I believed life had no meaning and nothing really mattered. Beauty had ceased to be my hope. I was willing to just try living on adrenaline. It didn't work. The question of beauty and belonging would not leave me alone.

Part 2 to follow…

U20 Women's CMAC Champions

Congratulations on a perfect season and tournament! Undefeated and absolutely brilliant.

Running through the hand off

Late in 1995 Karla and I made a decision. We would accelerate graduate work and leave for China within the year. I took more than a double load of classes while serving at Antioch Baptist Church as associate and pastoring Nueva Esperanza. We sprinted hard raising support, liquidating possessions, vaccinating Hannah (5), Sophie (4) and Isaiah (3). We said our fair wells and arrived in Kunming in August 1996.

December 27, 2007 we are scheduled to fly out of Kunming. That will be the closing of the door for the decision Karla and I made walking on Somerset St. in Roxboro NC over a decade ago. Though the SD work will always be part of our hearts, our leadership role will be completed. We will have run our portion of the race.

When we finish our race it is not because we have reached the end; there is no tape for us to break. We are running toward the next leg of the SD race with our baton extended toward the open hand of the Cokers. We want to finish our portion strong so they can take things forward into a new phase. The countdown is on. 17 days to run hard and focused. Lord grant us the grace to finish with all we have.

Kaka' for Christ

Spanish article:
http://www.protestantedigital.com/new/nowleernoticia.php?r=202&n=7838

Kaka', the Brazillian footballer playing for the Italian club AC Milan, has won the Golden Ball for best player in Europe. Raised in a middle class family in Rio, Kaka' is not the typical superstar. He and his long time sweetheart Caroline publicly declared their commitment to purity before marriage. Unlike many nightclub dwelling athletes Kaka' is a man of modesty and restraint. By his own admission it has been difficult at times but is more than worth it. Now the married couple is announcing they are expecting their first child.

In speaking with Protestant Digital Kaka' went on to reveal his plans after his football days end. He wants to be an evangelical pastor preaching the Bible. He wants to study theology and be well equipped to proclaim the Good News, but he is not waiting to let people know where his allegiances lie. Though I was personally deflated at Liverpool's Champions league loss it was more than made up for by Kaka' after game celebration:

The fact that a Portuguese speaking Brazilian playing for an Italian club has his message written in English tells me something:

Steven Gerrard, you this is for you!!!

Join us! then you really will

NEVER WALK ALONE

Corinthian Contextualization

How far do we go to be relevant? C3, C6??? How about less than C-Corinth. Interesting blog on Corinths contextualization of the Lord's supper. The following is from:

Conrad Gempf, would-be writer and lecturer in New Testament at London School of Theology
http://notquiteart.blogspot.com/2007/08/attractional-fallacy.html

Thus, it's incorrect to think that the Traditional Church's approach to doing church is an attractional model: that if we do things the way we've always done things, people will want to come in. From 1 Corinthians, we learn that the church's liturgy is more of a duty model: the Corinthians were chastised for trying to move the Lord's Supper away from its Jewish-specific roots and instead to practice it in the context of a Sophist's teaching/meal, which their culture understood and accepted. Paul tells them that such attempts at making worship culturally appropriate and self-expressive "do more harm than good" (1 Cor. 11:17).

Outside the Christian Artist Camp

Charlie Bertsch discusses Sufjan Stevens:

Stevens sings as a Christian. At first, members of his audience brush this realization aside. They are among hipsters, after all. Most of the people in this room devote their Saturday and Sunday mornings to servicing hangovers, not attending services. If they do believe in a higher power, it is a belief locked deep inside them, like a memory of early childhood that only comes out when they are mad or frightened or stoned. But as the clues pile up—references to divinity, righteousness, Bible study, Emanuel—they become impossible to ignore.

That the impulse to look for hidden meanings should seem incompatible with Christian art is a sign, both of how far Fundamentalism has dumbed down the religion it claims to represent, and how much intellectuals’ defensive response to Fundamentalism has left them deaf to the spiritual traditions it distorts and suppresses. If Stevens does have an agenda, aside from making beautiful and moving art, it may be to wake his audience up to the dangers in that brand of mutual ignorance. Interviewed last summer by the Internet music site Pitchfork, he addressed the resistance that many people feel to the religious content of his work.

“I think an enlightened person is capable, on some level, of making the distinction between the institution of the culture and the culture itself. The institution of Christianity, the way that it’s set up, it’s institutionalized and commodified, and anytime that happens, anytime it’s incorporated, it leads to disaster.” He notes, “I have the same knee-jerk reaction to that kind of culture. Maybe I’m a little more empathetic to it because we have similar fundamental beliefs. But culturally and aesthetically, some of it is really embarrassing.”

The real power of Stevens’s work, particularly in a live setting, is to take this embarrassment and turn it on its head, leaving the hipsters in his audience embarrassed at their own discomfort with religious conviction. In the process, he reveals their desire to remain non-committal as a reflex that retards both thinking and feeling. Commit to the music and you just may learn to commit to the spirituality that motivates it. It would surely be a lot more rewarding than
sleeping off hipster hangovers.

http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0511/bertsch Charlie Bertsch(cbertsch@comcast.net) is an assistant professor of English at the University of Arizona, where he specializes in twentieth century American prose, cultural studies, and the history of aesthetics. He also teaches film.

Buddhist Hell Sermon

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hF6AWs_bblqX0CUbAVKAzUr6GK9w
The daily ritual of giving donations to monks is an important part of religious practise for the people of Myanmar -- a way of receiving spiritual instruction as they chat with the monks during their rounds.But much of that spiritual life has evaporated since the crackdown on the demonstrations as the monks are no longer the ubiquitous presence they had been for centuries.Residents say the illegal videos are helping to fill that void."
Now the senior monks are taking up that role of giving religious services to the people through these videos. This is a very responsible thing for them to do," one Yangon resident told AFP.Unable to speak directly to their followers in public, two senior monks -- Nyanissara and Kawvida -- have recorded their sermons on a video disc titled "The end of sinful people".
In the sermon, they discuss the legend of a ruthless emperor who violated the teachings of the Lord Buddha, which resulted in him, and his followers, being sent to hell.

"When people do evil and act as if it were good, their karma becomes very fragile. That sin will lead to their destruction," Nyanissara says in the video."You can find sinful people in hell. Many more people will be going there. Those already in hell are waiting for them," he says.

Nyanissara is a founder of the respected Sagaing Thitagu World Buddha University in northern Myanmar, which is popular among foreigners who come to Myanmar, the former Burma, to study the religion.His lecture is widely seen here as a rebuke to the junta, and a warning that security forces will pay a price in the afterlife for the beatings of monks during the protests -- an unpardonable act in this devoutly Buddhist country.

Muay Thai World Championship

Congratulations to Thai Nguyen for making it to the second round of the Muay Thai World Championship! Thai has been training in Muay Thai for the last two years and has made tremendous progress. Though he is an Austrialian, he and one other Aussie of Vietnamese descent represented Vietnam at the tournament involving nearly 100 nations.
Thai's first fight was against the president of the Ugandan Muay Thai Association. Though the Ugandan had a strong right hand punch, he was no match for Thai's arsenal of kicks, punches, knees and elbows. The referee stepped in to call the fight when it became clear that the Ugandan was in danger of being hurt.
The following fight was between Venezuela and South Africa. The South African was fit and quick but found himself devestated in the first round by Manza, the lanky Venezuelan. Ducking under one of Manza's stinging jabs the South African found a roundhouse knee to the face was the end to his fight. Unfortunately Thai met a similar fate facing the experienced Venezuelan.
Toward the end of the first action packed round, Thai slipped under the long reach of Manza and got an extremely high rising knee to the nose. The fight continued briefly with punches thrown by both before the referee called in the Dr. to examine Thai's nose. Though Thai was ready to continue fighting, the Dr. decided that the break was to risky and called the fight. Though Thai was extremely dissappointed not to have progressed he can be proud of the fact that he fought well in both of his fights. Of minor consulation: the Venezuelan, who trains in Spain, has won championships is Germany and for all of Europe.
Sojos church extends its congratulations to Thai for being a good witness to his sport both in his skills and in his sportmanship.