if you're like the bulk of our population, you've likely never endured the joyous, excruciating test of one's body that is the "long run." the staple of the marathoner's diet, this will often culminate with an 18-20 mile run three weeks before the race. yesterday was mine.
i was reflecting post-run (ibuprofen and Papa Johns coursing through my veins) on how eventful these runs often turn out to be. there are always things which i notice when running a course that i don't seem to notice driving or even on a bike.
"Take us behind the curtain!!" the masses scream. "We want to know what it's like to ground your joints to powder whilst listening to NPR podcasts!" as you shall discover, i am here to please.
below is a very brief recap, then, of yesterday's run:
Mile 0: ignoring the oddly comforting thought that the next 3.25 hours of my Friday night will be spent running.
Mile 0.25: trying to convince myself that the pain in my left knee has nothing to do with any actual physical problem.
Miles 4.5 to 6.75: on the Poudre Trail just past College, encounter very fast high school running team. they sprint past me. the rational part of the brain, the one which carefully regulates speed and energy reserves during a 19 mile run, soon loses out to the testosterone-infused animalistic (and VERY STUPID) part of the brain which exclaims, "It's ON!" Finally they turn around, and I realize my pace is 2 minutes per mile faster than it should be.
this...may not end well.
Mile 7.25: smile at attractive stranger as we pass on the trail. no response. no friendly acknowledgement or polite social gesture.
i become sullen and annoyed. does she not respect how hard i am working here? because i guarantee you, missie, that your run pales in comparison to mine. PALES. whatever happened to common social decency? what have you done with your life that's so great that you feel the right to thoroughly disregard a fellow human being in this way???
Mile 7.33: realize that this reaction is quickly becoming psychotic, and turn attention back to This American Life episode on mp3 player. running does tend to inflame emotions (see below).
Mile 10: north of town and heading back south, I realize how many people own horses. call out to horses as i pass by. wonder why i do not own a horse, let along several horses. forget that i live in an apartment in the middle of town, not a ranch 5 miles outside of town.
Mile 11: it is raining. mp3 player turns itself off and refuses to turn back on. i have listened to 2 This American Life's, but was depending upon The Moth and Radiolab to get me through the next 1.5 hours. grrrr.
Mile 11:6: retrieve Gatorade which i stashed earlier in the day and refill water bottle. slightly amazed that no animal or person has drank/peed in/thrown bottle of Gatorade. rejoice and drink sickly sweet nectar.
Mile 12: as I am running against traffic in the bicycle lane, oncoming car swerves into bike lane and veers off at the last moment. i yell and flip off the car. immediately feel bad about looking like a psychopath in running shorts. console myself with rationalization that running does tend to inflame emotions (see Mile 7.33, above).
plus, i don't like almost getting hit by large moving objects whilst exercising. really, anytime. i rebel against those that would attempt to put me in this situation, apparently, by behaving much the same way those living behind dumpsters behave.
Mile 12.7: see 6 bucks (the deer, not the paper money variety) in the front yard of a house on Overland Trail. they are mowing his grass for free. wonder aloud why i never have bucks in my front yard. forget that i live in an apartment in the middle of town.
Mile 14.6: ok, not proud of this one. i am running on the sidewalk as a car pulls up from a side street waiting to turn. driver is looking the other way. do I continue to run forward, knowing that i will be running right in front of a car that may just decide to turn straight into me? i do continue to run. driver does, in fact, turn. using super-human skills, i am able to evade left bumper of said car (you should be picturing Neo in the Matrix if Neo was fond of long runs). driver rolls down window as he speeds away and says, "sorry." i let loose the fires of hell from my mouth.
again, something about not liking almost getting hit by large moving objects whilst exercising.
Mile 15: mp3 player begins working again. and there was great rejoicing.
Mile 16.2: Spring Creek trail, heading slowly towards home. i pass yet another attractive stranger, who does indeed understand the subtleties of basic human interaction. we smile and wave. now am the opposite of sullen and annoyed.
Mile 17: legs are doing this weird burning thing, which is their polite way of saying they'd like to go home now.
Mile 19.2: run into parking lot. well, "run" might be a very generous term. stumble up the stairs into apartment (which has neither horses nor deer out front) and immediately place Papa Johns order.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
A Postscript to Don Miller's blog
Perhaps you've never drunk-dialed.
This is the rather recent (historically) phenomenon whereby, in course of a lively evening involving dubious amounts of alcohol (and yes, one drink for some is plenty dubious), you feel the cellphone beckon from your side pocket. "I should call _____ - right now!" says the evil leprechaun in your head. (Why is he dressed like a Spartan?) The _____ often are ex-girlfriends or boyfriends (or soon-to-be ex's, after this call you're about to make), though past employers and close relatives also easily fit the bill.
Why spend time describing something I've never experienced (ahem.), flies against wisdom given in Proverbs (23:35 among many), and certainly don't suggest you try? Only to make a point about human behaviour. Our inhibitions get lowered, and things we've only been thinking about saying are suddenly said. The filters fall away, decorum goes out the window, and then it's..."wow, did I really say that? To all those people?" Alcohol may make this much more likely to happen, but it happens in moments of seriousness and sobriety as well - perhaps these moments are more worth paying attention to?
Donald Miller was undoubtedly not drunk when he wrote this post. Miller suggests here that scholars lead the church, and have in essence hijacked the church by making it into an intellectual institution. According to his post, the disciples were not academics but were tradesmen - fishermen, tax collectors, revolutionaries. In regards to Jesus' disciples, Miller writes:
"I wonder what they would have done if they had been professional scholars? My guess is they would have talked the command (The Great Commission) into a tailspin, dissected it into a million pieces, then divided themselves into different intellectual camps, and built a bunch of schools to teach their various interpretations."
Miller concludes by expressing his frustration at academics and their endless posturing. Doctrinal fights aren't helping us do anything. Intellectual discussions led by proponents of the ivory tower don't feed the hungry:
"Is it worth it that you are divided against other denominations because scholars picked up their ball and stomped off the playground? If you are tired, then be the church. I'm not kidding; you don't know everything, but you know enough. Be the church and be united. Let the academics go to an island and fight about the things that matter to them, and we will be united based on the things that matter to us."
Now. What say you? The volume of rebuttals or responses online to the original post is staggering, some supporting Miller's admonitions but most seem to be critical of his stance. For reasons unknown, the original blog post (originally found here) has since been removed from Don Miller's official blog. Was this done due to a change of heart? Or perhaps the buzz and critical response was simply too great? Some have suggested that Miller wrote this piece after the response to Rob Bell's Love Wins got out of hand, and it was Don's way of expressing his frustration with the negative tone of the conversation.
I'll keep my comments brief. At first I was incredibly angry with Miller's post, as an aspiring Biblical scholar might well be expected to be. I think that now my anger has turned to confusion, though. Scholars don't lead the church - many of the most influential voices in modern Christianity don't come from the proceedings of the Society of Biblical Literature conferences but from mega-church pastors and pop-culture book writers of Don Miller's ilk. While I appreciate his opinion on the matter, so many statements in his blog post are simply wrong. It's difficult to interact with an opinion when the facts behind the opinion are incorrect.
I am among the first in a discussion to agree that intellectualism can go too far, in the church or elsewhere. The schools of Pharisees in Jesus' day were prime examples, but we make a mistake in thinking that intellectuals and scholars do not have a prominent place in the church simply because education can be abused. Lest we forget that Paul of Tarsus was highly educated in the Law and Prophets and was undoubtedly fluent in Hebrew and Greek and possibly Aramaic, maybe even Latin. (Miller's lack of discussion on Paul in his post is unfortunate in this regard.) God chose to use Paul to spread Christianity in fulfillment of the Great Commission in ways no other apostle was able to accomplish. Paul was uniquely qualified as a passionate intellectual sold out to the service of Christ.
I'm not sure what motivated Don Miller to write this post, but something about it pushes me to believe that he really believes this anti-intellectual bent should be practiced in our churches. This disappoints me greatly, not least because Miller has a large voice and influences many. We need intellectuals as we need nurses and plumbers and janitors and pastors and coffee shop baristas in the Church. Our intellectual pursuits should drive us towards good works and internalization of the Word, and I agree that scholarship simply for the sake of scholarship can lead down some murky roads.
But this anti-intellectual stance provides its own problems. Serious problems. Misapplication of God's word due to ignorance or an incomplete understanding of the cultural and linguistic contexts can be as dangerous as a pastor or teacher twisting God's word to their own manipulative ends. God's word is too rich and too complex to be disregarded in regards to further study.
This is the rather recent (historically) phenomenon whereby, in course of a lively evening involving dubious amounts of alcohol (and yes, one drink for some is plenty dubious), you feel the cellphone beckon from your side pocket. "I should call _____ - right now!" says the evil leprechaun in your head. (Why is he dressed like a Spartan?) The _____ often are ex-girlfriends or boyfriends (or soon-to-be ex's, after this call you're about to make), though past employers and close relatives also easily fit the bill.
Why spend time describing something I've never experienced (ahem.), flies against wisdom given in Proverbs (23:35 among many), and certainly don't suggest you try? Only to make a point about human behaviour. Our inhibitions get lowered, and things we've only been thinking about saying are suddenly said. The filters fall away, decorum goes out the window, and then it's..."wow, did I really say that? To all those people?" Alcohol may make this much more likely to happen, but it happens in moments of seriousness and sobriety as well - perhaps these moments are more worth paying attention to?
Donald Miller was undoubtedly not drunk when he wrote this post. Miller suggests here that scholars lead the church, and have in essence hijacked the church by making it into an intellectual institution. According to his post, the disciples were not academics but were tradesmen - fishermen, tax collectors, revolutionaries. In regards to Jesus' disciples, Miller writes:
"I wonder what they would have done if they had been professional scholars? My guess is they would have talked the command (The Great Commission) into a tailspin, dissected it into a million pieces, then divided themselves into different intellectual camps, and built a bunch of schools to teach their various interpretations."
Miller concludes by expressing his frustration at academics and their endless posturing. Doctrinal fights aren't helping us do anything. Intellectual discussions led by proponents of the ivory tower don't feed the hungry:
"Is it worth it that you are divided against other denominations because scholars picked up their ball and stomped off the playground? If you are tired, then be the church. I'm not kidding; you don't know everything, but you know enough. Be the church and be united. Let the academics go to an island and fight about the things that matter to them, and we will be united based on the things that matter to us."
Now. What say you? The volume of rebuttals or responses online to the original post is staggering, some supporting Miller's admonitions but most seem to be critical of his stance. For reasons unknown, the original blog post (originally found here) has since been removed from Don Miller's official blog. Was this done due to a change of heart? Or perhaps the buzz and critical response was simply too great? Some have suggested that Miller wrote this piece after the response to Rob Bell's Love Wins got out of hand, and it was Don's way of expressing his frustration with the negative tone of the conversation.
I'll keep my comments brief. At first I was incredibly angry with Miller's post, as an aspiring Biblical scholar might well be expected to be. I think that now my anger has turned to confusion, though. Scholars don't lead the church - many of the most influential voices in modern Christianity don't come from the proceedings of the Society of Biblical Literature conferences but from mega-church pastors and pop-culture book writers of Don Miller's ilk. While I appreciate his opinion on the matter, so many statements in his blog post are simply wrong. It's difficult to interact with an opinion when the facts behind the opinion are incorrect.
I am among the first in a discussion to agree that intellectualism can go too far, in the church or elsewhere. The schools of Pharisees in Jesus' day were prime examples, but we make a mistake in thinking that intellectuals and scholars do not have a prominent place in the church simply because education can be abused. Lest we forget that Paul of Tarsus was highly educated in the Law and Prophets and was undoubtedly fluent in Hebrew and Greek and possibly Aramaic, maybe even Latin. (Miller's lack of discussion on Paul in his post is unfortunate in this regard.) God chose to use Paul to spread Christianity in fulfillment of the Great Commission in ways no other apostle was able to accomplish. Paul was uniquely qualified as a passionate intellectual sold out to the service of Christ.
I'm not sure what motivated Don Miller to write this post, but something about it pushes me to believe that he really believes this anti-intellectual bent should be practiced in our churches. This disappoints me greatly, not least because Miller has a large voice and influences many. We need intellectuals as we need nurses and plumbers and janitors and pastors and coffee shop baristas in the Church. Our intellectual pursuits should drive us towards good works and internalization of the Word, and I agree that scholarship simply for the sake of scholarship can lead down some murky roads.
But this anti-intellectual stance provides its own problems. Serious problems. Misapplication of God's word due to ignorance or an incomplete understanding of the cultural and linguistic contexts can be as dangerous as a pastor or teacher twisting God's word to their own manipulative ends. God's word is too rich and too complex to be disregarded in regards to further study.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Hunger Games and Mockingjays.
his face is earnest, smiling but intense. he sips his tea quickly and checks me into the hotel. something's off, though.
he wants to say something. he nervously shifts.
is he searching for the words? no, I don't think so. he knows the words, but he's cautious. a lifetime of knowing the walls have ears will breed cautiousness.
finally, it comes:
"we would have freedom, one day. as you have."
a Rebellion was growing. Syria, 2009, and he couldn't have been a day over 20. but he was not alone. in my short 2 week stay, i met man after man, all college age or slightly older, who at any opportunity would speak of what i had, and what they wanted to share.
i had no way of knowing what was growing, what resolve was coursing through their veins, their anger at an oppressive man and his government ready to spill over into the streets.
i could not visit my young friend now if i wanted - yet i think often of that place, and of those men.
i do not pretend to know Suzanne Collins' inspirations in writing her Hunger Games trilogy. i very much should like to someday. finishing the 2nd book this afternoon, Catching Fire, i realize that the horror of the Hunger Games has been repeated time and again.
In Real Life.
for example, how could Mrs. Collins' choices in naming key Capitol residents of Panem not be coincidental? Seneca. Cinna. Octavia. these are classic Roman names, from the days of the Emperors.
in 1st century Rome, gladiators were corralled from all corners and provinces of the Empire. some were violent criminals, though many more were unwilling participants in the cruel spectacle of Imperial might. it is well-attested, for example, that Christians who refused to worship the Emperor found themselves in the arena, fighting off wild animals or, perhaps worse, each other, in a Battle Royale. all this to satiate the bloodlust of the citizens in the stands.
the worst, most exploitative reality TV has nothing on the gruesomeness of the Gladiatorial Games.
Panem, the wealthy and oppressive power centre of the Hunger Games, has existed many times over. Rome is but one example. human sacrifice has often been used as a method of control over a populace, to manipulate would-be insurgents into submission.
a spectacle, a reminder of the powerlessness of the people, and the might of Empire.
bread and circuses - keep the populace barely above starving, give them spectacle. give them blood. give them distraction as they are oppressed.
yet, the Mockingjays always surface, don't they? (my apologies to those not yet ingratiated to the Hunger Games mythology. go do yourself a favour, grab the book, and clear your schedule.) in Rome, they surfaced many times. Spartacus rallied his fellow slaves, escaped from captivity, and led an insurrection thousands strong. his story has been a rallying point for countless uprisings since. or think of Leonidas, who led his 300 Spartans against the might of the Persian Empire, sacrificing every last man on the beaches of Thermopalaye as an affront against Empire. or the account of Daniel and his 3 friends, thrown to the fire when they stood against a tyrannical command.
and today...we have the Arab Spring. Egypt, Tunisia, Syria. our own country, the U.S.A., of course had its very beginnings as Mockingjays tossed tea from British ships and penned the framework of a new civilization deep into the night.
stay with me - this is going somewhere.
i submit that our common consciousness has the blueprint of the Mockingjay written upon it. Mrs. Collins' story, her themes, for all their entertainment value are hardly original. rather, I believe she gives us a version of an Eternal Burning which each of us is stamped with.
what other of our stories tell us of unlikely heroes or heroines, rising from obscurity or powerlessness to take on Empire? to give injustice and tyranny a run for their money. Star Wars (the good ones), Braveheart, Gladiator, 300, The Princess Bride, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings...perhaps you've heard of these.
and go back thousands of years through our collective literature, our common stories...this story in particular is told again and again.
to be sure, not every revolution is noble. not all rallying cries are as well thought-out as some. revolution often fails, or morphs into something less than its potential. but we are pre-programmed.
we come out of the box, some assembly required, but ready to fight tyranny and to stand for the oppressed. if we obey the deep calling within, our wiring, our imprint. we are born ready.
if we pay attention to our stories, we are ready.
to be sure, there will always be evil - until there isn't. there will, also, always be those who would grab power for their own and twist those under their "control" with their own version of the Hunger Games. until there aren't.
but there will also, always, be those like my young friend in a shelled, bullet-ridden, terrifying province of Empire. those who see what is on the horizon and decide before it happens to be ready to stand.
may this brief media sensation, Mrs. Collins' books, the movie, be a reminder for us all. to search for the Mockingjays in our midst and to push them forward, to encourage them with bringing Heaven to Earth by ending oppression and giving a voice to the voiceless.
this Eternal Burning is sometimes accomplished through violence - only a fool would ignore this. but, far more often as the true stories are told, the pen indeed is victorious. wit, courage, and resolve often succeed where threats would fail. a small gesture may contain the spark that ignites an unstoppable change towards redemption.
long after the book is closed, and the movie comes out on DVD - i for one am thankful for the reminder to tend to our Mockingjays.
he wants to say something. he nervously shifts.
is he searching for the words? no, I don't think so. he knows the words, but he's cautious. a lifetime of knowing the walls have ears will breed cautiousness.
finally, it comes:
"we would have freedom, one day. as you have."
a Rebellion was growing. Syria, 2009, and he couldn't have been a day over 20. but he was not alone. in my short 2 week stay, i met man after man, all college age or slightly older, who at any opportunity would speak of what i had, and what they wanted to share.
i had no way of knowing what was growing, what resolve was coursing through their veins, their anger at an oppressive man and his government ready to spill over into the streets.
i could not visit my young friend now if i wanted - yet i think often of that place, and of those men.
i do not pretend to know Suzanne Collins' inspirations in writing her Hunger Games trilogy. i very much should like to someday. finishing the 2nd book this afternoon, Catching Fire, i realize that the horror of the Hunger Games has been repeated time and again.
In Real Life.
for example, how could Mrs. Collins' choices in naming key Capitol residents of Panem not be coincidental? Seneca. Cinna. Octavia. these are classic Roman names, from the days of the Emperors.
in 1st century Rome, gladiators were corralled from all corners and provinces of the Empire. some were violent criminals, though many more were unwilling participants in the cruel spectacle of Imperial might. it is well-attested, for example, that Christians who refused to worship the Emperor found themselves in the arena, fighting off wild animals or, perhaps worse, each other, in a Battle Royale. all this to satiate the bloodlust of the citizens in the stands.
the worst, most exploitative reality TV has nothing on the gruesomeness of the Gladiatorial Games.
Panem, the wealthy and oppressive power centre of the Hunger Games, has existed many times over. Rome is but one example. human sacrifice has often been used as a method of control over a populace, to manipulate would-be insurgents into submission.
a spectacle, a reminder of the powerlessness of the people, and the might of Empire.
bread and circuses - keep the populace barely above starving, give them spectacle. give them blood. give them distraction as they are oppressed.
yet, the Mockingjays always surface, don't they? (my apologies to those not yet ingratiated to the Hunger Games mythology. go do yourself a favour, grab the book, and clear your schedule.) in Rome, they surfaced many times. Spartacus rallied his fellow slaves, escaped from captivity, and led an insurrection thousands strong. his story has been a rallying point for countless uprisings since. or think of Leonidas, who led his 300 Spartans against the might of the Persian Empire, sacrificing every last man on the beaches of Thermopalaye as an affront against Empire. or the account of Daniel and his 3 friends, thrown to the fire when they stood against a tyrannical command.
and today...we have the Arab Spring. Egypt, Tunisia, Syria. our own country, the U.S.A., of course had its very beginnings as Mockingjays tossed tea from British ships and penned the framework of a new civilization deep into the night.
stay with me - this is going somewhere.
i submit that our common consciousness has the blueprint of the Mockingjay written upon it. Mrs. Collins' story, her themes, for all their entertainment value are hardly original. rather, I believe she gives us a version of an Eternal Burning which each of us is stamped with.
what other of our stories tell us of unlikely heroes or heroines, rising from obscurity or powerlessness to take on Empire? to give injustice and tyranny a run for their money. Star Wars (the good ones), Braveheart, Gladiator, 300, The Princess Bride, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings...perhaps you've heard of these.
and go back thousands of years through our collective literature, our common stories...this story in particular is told again and again.
to be sure, not every revolution is noble. not all rallying cries are as well thought-out as some. revolution often fails, or morphs into something less than its potential. but we are pre-programmed.
we come out of the box, some assembly required, but ready to fight tyranny and to stand for the oppressed. if we obey the deep calling within, our wiring, our imprint. we are born ready.
if we pay attention to our stories, we are ready.
to be sure, there will always be evil - until there isn't. there will, also, always be those who would grab power for their own and twist those under their "control" with their own version of the Hunger Games. until there aren't.
but there will also, always, be those like my young friend in a shelled, bullet-ridden, terrifying province of Empire. those who see what is on the horizon and decide before it happens to be ready to stand.
may this brief media sensation, Mrs. Collins' books, the movie, be a reminder for us all. to search for the Mockingjays in our midst and to push them forward, to encourage them with bringing Heaven to Earth by ending oppression and giving a voice to the voiceless.
this Eternal Burning is sometimes accomplished through violence - only a fool would ignore this. but, far more often as the true stories are told, the pen indeed is victorious. wit, courage, and resolve often succeed where threats would fail. a small gesture may contain the spark that ignites an unstoppable change towards redemption.
long after the book is closed, and the movie comes out on DVD - i for one am thankful for the reminder to tend to our Mockingjays.
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