What you don't know CAN hurt you

  When I was growing up, my parents were full of idioms they felt compelled to share with me as points of learning. Two I remember repeated often were "Ignorance is bliss" and "What you don't know won't hurt you". They seemed to go hand in hand, and when mentioned enough times i became convinced that there were things in life which I was better off not knowing. I bought the concept at the time but as I grew older and wiser, I came to see the flaw in the supposed logic.

While competing for Team USA and getting ready for the World Triathlon Championships off the Gold Coast in Australia two years ago, I did most of my pre-race swim training in the channel adjacent to my hotel. It was always clear of boats and there was never another swimmer to worry about. I had the water to myself. After a few days of mile swims back and forth across the inlet, I was finishing up my last swim and heard some local Australian yelling at me from the bridge above. He called me out of the water and waved me up to where he was, right next to a sign that I obviously hadn't seen from my entry point beach-side each day "WARNING: DO NOT swim in this channel, it is full of Bull Sharks!"

I went back to my room and became less ignorant about bull sharks. Here's what I learned - they are the world's most likely shark to attack humans.They favor shallow, coastal waters, which is also, not coincidentally, where people swim.  They average 7-11 feet long, far smaller than their Great White cousins but more prone to travel in and attack in packs. They love to rip and shred those things with which they come into contact. Nice :)

The obvious lesson for me was to have been better informed. Ignorance could have been deadly. What I didn't know could have killed me. Literally. It goes without saying that I steered very clear of those waters from that day forward. Not knowing something or lacking an awareness can seem momentarily blissful, but life is filled with things that we must come to know if we are to minimize pain, suffering, or in the worse case, a premature death. The signs are often everywhere, but in our blissful and ignorant nature, we often miss them. As a Believer, I've come to know that the One who created me put all of the warnings and instruction in one place for me to read. And He did so out of LOVE. Knowing this now, the choice remains mine. I can remain ignorant and temporarily blissful by ignoring His word and wisdom, or I can strive to gain and apply the His knowledge to my walk in this world. It's not a guarantee that I'll avoid all of life's problems, but it will no doubt keep those problems I would have created on my own to the absolute minimum. And it will surely keep me out of the life's shark-infested waters. BELIEVE.  

"My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep the in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body" - Proverbs 4:20-22








 






  

Can You Handle the Truth?

 Once again, I will admit that I'm human. I struggle with many of the same things that keep everyone else up at night. And for the first time in my life, I know what it feels like to struggle with my weight. Maybe it's my advancing age (48) and slowing metabolism, or maybe it's just that I'm burned out, but after a very intense 2012 filled with multiple endurance events and a move to PA, I throttled it back over the holidays and got really complacent. Oh, I exercised. But not intentionally, and I kept eating and drinking as if I were training for another Ironman. On January 1st, I stepped on the scales at a friend's house and the number 206.3 flashed back at me. There must be something wrong with the scale, I thought. I've never weighed that much in my life! But it was a brand new scale, and we calibrated it soon after I stepped down, and low and behold it was dead accurate. I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't like what I saw. I had been avoiding the scale for a few months, but what I couldn't avoid was the reality of slow runs, slower races, tighter fitting jeans. I kept rationalizing and justifying and making excuses and....everything but accepting the truth. As an athlete, I knew what I needed to do - I have done it for 30+ years! But knowing and doing are often two very different things. I guess I kept hoping that the daily decisions I was making wouldn't catch up with me, but they do and they did. After a few months of keeping the scale at bay and not being honest with myself, it was time to face the facts. I was headed somewhere I didn't want to go. So I cut back on my portions, stepped up my exercise, found an accountability partner, signed up for a March race, and set up a little weight loss contest at work to keep me motivated.

When it comes to our weight, the scale never lies - the truth may often hurt, but when we continue to put off seeking the truth we know there are consequences. When we put off getting into the Word, there are also consequences. It's next to impossible to stay disciplined in our personal lives, to do those things we know we need to be doing, and to be the people we are called to be, if we are not in some kind of daily relationship with God, striving to better understand His truths. What happens is, much like gaining weight, we eventually get to that point where we are uncomfortable - something happens and we wonder why we are where we are or are unprepared to handle what's come our way. Or maybe it's where we find ourselves, far from where we need to be. It's simply that we've drifted away from the Truth. We've gotten complacent - we've accepted new habits, settled in to new ways, and rationalized behavior. So we let the belt out another notch and keep going until we need a new belt. Or a new wife. Or friends. Or job. Or a new life.

It doesn't have to ever get to that point if we seek the truth daily in all facets of our life. We may not always like what we have to hear (or like what we have to see when we step on the scale), but the Truth ultimately will set us free to be who we need to be - unburdened by the extra weight of guilt, shame, fear and doubt. Believe.        

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  - John 8:32


   



   

On Love and Winter Running

There are few things in life more difficult than dragging one's butt out from under the warmth of a toasty down comforter, putting ten minutes worth of cold weather layered protection on, and then venturing out for a run directly into that dark, frigid, and often dangerous abyss which we call winter. In just a few months, it will be spring and the running will be easy. And simple. Maybe a t-shirt and shorts, typically bright sunshine and welcoming temps and always a smooth surface. But for now we endure the elements and make the daily, conscious choice to run in conditions that are never optimal. Some days it can be downright painful. The other morning I awoke to find myself in 3 degrees above zero (Cedar Falls, Iowa) and realized a few minutes into my run that if I wanted to continue seeing out my eyes and stay focused on the road ahead I would need to thaw the ice from my eye lashes.I turned around and ran backwards for a stretch, allowing my back to bear the brunt of the wind while I bought myself some time thawing the ice which had cystalized around my eyes.

I don't necessarily feel like running through the winter but I do it, because I know that it's good for me. I know that the discipline of daily running, the consistency of choosing to push myself physically will pay dividends. I also know that if ever took the winter off and only ran when conditions were optimal or when I felt like it, I'd pay a huge price for my neglect. Trying to start back up when spring rolled around would prove difficult and no doubt painful. 

The unconditional choice to run in the winter is similar to the unconditional nature regarding how we are called to love. Love is a choice, not a feeling. It is not a knee-jerk reaction, but rather an initiated action - much like the intentionality required to set an alarm clock, respond to that alarm, get the layers on, and get out the door. People will say that they have fallen "out of love", but effectively they've chosen to no longer love. They've not lost the feeling, they've simply decided to no longer choose to love that person. Much like running in the spring, loving when someone is lovable or when we deem them "deserving" of our love is easy. Choosing to love someone when they've wronged us or are not treating us with the respect or dignity we believe we deserve - well that's kinda like running in the winter. Rarely easy, often painful, but absolutely necessary if we are to live by the calling of the One who chooses to love us unconditionally.   

I know this much. The spring always comes. And that's what keeps me running through the winter - sometimes it's just about holding on, getting through and enduring these dark months. Relationships are no different. If you hold on and love unconditionally even when you don't feel like it, there's a pay-off. As I have learned through running, the ability to push through the winter and persevere always strengthens my resolve and makes for far better runs by the time spring rolls around. Believe.

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" - 1 Corinthians 13:7