Movement

Welcome the second post today....

I've been thinking about movement a lot lately. Not specific actions per se, but certainly purposeful movements. Doesn't make any sense? Examples: Swimming, running, WoDing, dance, climbing and martial arts.

I've been thinking about how easy it is to get lost in the moving. Hmmm...it's like getting lost in a book to the point that you forget you are reading a story. The words on the page, and maybe the page as well, vanish; they are replaced by the lives and experiences of the characters as they play out before you. During purposeful movement the author, character and plot are the same.

Climbing is a lot like that. It's just you, the rock and whatever sparse pro that has been set paired with dynamic, explosive movements that are aching to be released. Flow is important for travel...one must be like a river moving over the rock as you caress the cracks, crannies and smooth places while gaining altitude. Wasted movement becomes an obscenity, made almost sacrilegious. Then, the rock becomes an altar. On the altar is poured a drink of devotion and determination to figure it out and do it right. Penance is paid with sweat and blood. There is no purgatory - sin often enough and death is the result. At least it's most often instant death, if you're high enough. There are other ways to describe it, but I'll wait awhile to suggest them....

Martial arts often carries a very, very different perspective. The art of violence is something an unfortunate (and sometimes fortunate) few seem to understand.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell. Take that where you will.

It's not always about violence though; there is a certain beauty in seeing the katas performed with the grace of perfection, especially when one is able to understand and appreciate the sacrifice offered to achieve perfection. The same beauty carries the imminent threat of one so graceful...perfection is perfection, whether it is displayed via demonstration or on the ancient battlefield.


Movement. It does a body good. I'm done rambling. CYA!

WoDtastic, once again!

G'day mates....

It's been a while since I've posted a workout. Sorry about that. About a month ago I got sick and nearly put myself in the hospital after I decided to just "push through it," and have had short-notice stuff at work ever since then.

For the past two-three weeks I've mostly been doing swimming (finning, to be technically correct).

Today's WoD:

Warmup:
Two trips down the pool (25 yards) with fins, underwater, didn't make it all the way the second time. Sidestroke most of the way back.
10 or so minutes of snorkeling fun. Wasn't really that challenging. Just getting the blood flowing, ya'know? Things like swim to the deep end, dive to the bottom, do a somersault, swim back. It varied every trip just so I didn't get bored.

Mental Games (I know some of you are wondering why I'm trying to stretch my already abused head):
I've got a little pack that came with my snorkeling set (mask, snorkel, fins). So, I put a camp shovel in there for some weight (used it before for other stuff), ran a rope through it and drug it to the deep end. There, separated the rope and tied three knots in it. Then I separated the bag and snorkel and rope by about three-five feet and swam back. The object was to swim sidestroke to the drop off, dive under, put on the snorkel, untie the rope and drag the bag back. I did that a couple or three times.

WoD:
Working on conditioning right now because of the long break.

Tabata JOY:
20 sec work/10 sec rest continuous:
Pullups
Pushups
Situps
Squats

Back to the pool after that:

Mask retrieval and clearing for a couple or three trips down.

Bobbing. I FINALLY figured out how to bob without hitting the water at an awkward angle every time I go down. I realized that my back arches at the top (which causes a change in my center of gravity and results in a semi-somersault when I sink again). I started looking at the ceiling at the top of the bob and that seems to fix it. Though I'm pretty confident with bobbing, doing it after the WoD added a new dimension. I'm sure doing it all tied up will be different, too. I'd try it but I'm afraid the lifeguards will freak out...they get so nervous about me they come and stand wherever I'm working. Seriously! Poor gals.

For some reason a snorkeling mask (mainly the nose cup) completely wigs me out. Underwater is not that bad...can't breathe there anyway. The first time I swam with it underwater and tried to breathe on the surface I nearly lost it. Being underwater isn't bad, but trying to suck air through a sealed mask is certainly an adaptation I'm having to learn to deal with. When I started bobbing with it on I had to start from the very beginning again...going to one bob, then two, then three, and so on and so forth.

After this, it was time to go.

XXXChurch, fighting the battle

Here's a radio interview between the pastor of XXXChurch and a radio host.

Thinking about GIRLS today!!! :P

I saw a lady once, all dressed up and pretty for a public outing. I think it was church. She was modestly dressed, as any follower of Christ would be, but she was still very pretty.
I saw the lady again some time after that. She was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt. Was she pretty? Uh, well, that's not the word I would use. What words would I use? Ravishing. Drop-dead gorgeous. Stunning. Outlandishly beautiful.

As I realized I was thinking those words when I saw her, it occurred to me once again what kind of differences there are between males and females. Most girls won't go out without doing their hair, or coordinating clothes and shoes, or putting on makeup. This girl was dressed very simply and yet carried such an exquisite example of feminine beauty that I could hardly take my eyes off her. Seriously. I had to leave just to stop.

Why is it women think they have to hide themselves to be beautiful? In my limited experience insecurity plays a big part in it, but maybe there are more reasons. Most women just don't seem to realize that they are the most beautiful when they have the least idea that any guy would look twice at them. Seriously.

With a gentle and loving heart, makeup just hides the Glory. I say Glory with a capital G - the beauty that is present is solely from the Lord. Perhaps it is only in the eyes of her beloved that she seems to be able to recognize the difference His glory brings to her beauty, but it is there.

I saw two girls at Starbucks once. They were dressed like they should be grinding in a club downtown and had the audacity to talk about church. The only reason I'd ever go to a church like that is to witness to people. As much as their clothing revealed, they had very, very little beauty. I wanted to get them a gift card to Goodwill so they could learn the beauty of humility. Sheesh.

Whatever. My rants are done for now. For all the ladies that dress modestly and are concerned about their brothers in Christ, THANK YOU. You'll probably never know how much we really appreciate it.

Desperado

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
But I know that you've got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Can hurt you somehow

Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy
She'll beat you if she's able
No, the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones you can't get

Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they've drivin' you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the night time from the day
You're losin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?

Come down from your fences, and open the gate
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you
(let sombody love you)
You better let somebody love you
before it's too late

--Eagles, Desperado

Every time I hear this song I feel like it's being played just for me. Today at the pool I was gasping for breath and it came on. I'm so tired of being disappointed that I've just gone numb for a while.

Furious Fifty

Check it out.

Uh...oh yeah...forgot about that one....shoot.

The past few days have been a relational hell. Actually, the past few weeks have, and it started at the top.

My walk has been TERRIBLE...just pathetic. Hardly any Word, hardly any prayer, hardly anything. It's leaking down into my relationships with other people, too.

Well, hey...I just read James 1:1-8 and it helped. A lot. I remembered that not only is God with me through this suffering (even though I've brought it on myself for the most part), he also WANTS me to suffer. He wants my faith to be shaken and broken. He wants me to be tested, He wants me to be patient, He wants me to be made whole, to lack nothing, to be made perfect and made complete. Thank you, Jesus. It hurts; but still, you watch over me and you take care of me. Thank you so much!!! :)

Anyhow, prayers please....

Squeek Squeek

I've been reading James the past few minutes and it's reminded me of things I'd rather not think about.
You know, I think it's been two years since I've been held accountable in any sort of discipleship program/relationship, and just realized that I had practically given up hope of ever seeing another one ever again. I can count off on my fingers (and maybe toes) of the times I've had serious hope that one would develop with an older male, only to have events, time and sometimes even betrayals change it.
I feel old and weary inside. Calloused. Unclean. I've nearly forgotten what it's like to be anything else and it hurts to much to really remember it in any detail. Remembering the past is just too painful right now, even the good parts. Is there hope? Is there an end to this madness? This unconfessed sin? I hate the person I have become and am becoming, and don't know how to change it (and I know it won't happen by myself).
This is probably the strongest test I've ever had. I've been through the turbulent times, I've had nearly everything stripped away before and survived soley by the grace of God. It's getting harder and harder to remember the same grace can see me through this trial, too.
Literally years of practically nothing...it's wearing me down...I'm like a hamster in a wheel except now the wheel is stuck, too, and there's a cat reaching in the cage to rip me apart and eat what little is left of my soul.

Prayers, please....

Where's the moonshine?

What are your thoughts on a Christian's consumption of alcohol?
Personally, I think it's better to avoid it completely. I usually say I don't mind legal age drinking (responsibly), but I do get on a soapbox about it pretty quickly and reveal what I apparently really think about it.

Is it a sin? Well, no. The Word says as long as you don't let it (or anything else for that matter) control you, it should be okay. Anything that prevents a person from submitting to the will of God is of course, sin. I still think it's dumb to drink though, at least on a regular basis. I'm not making a question of what is right and wrong, I'm making a question of what is good and what is best. With the implications alcohol carries, a person could go either way with it, I suppose.
I've heard it argued that having a beer with some people you are witnessing to is a great way to get to know them. Okay. So, unless the both of you are not drinking to get drunk, is the person going to remember anything you say? If you get inebriated, how is that helping?
The whole point of being here on this earth is to be different...not "fitting in," like I hear in most mega-churches today. Who cares about fitting in? If you're not ticking somebody off you're probably compromising where you shouldn't be, anyway. If I hear another sermon about having the courage to go and BUY some temptation, I'm gonna flip out.
I've had at least one person take a picture of me in a bar to prove to someone else that I've actually been in one. You know what? Nearly every time I answer the question of "Why aren't you drinking with us," I notice two things - I have a chance (and responsibility) to witness if I can, AND, they are sober enough to understand me without being in an alcohol-inspired awe. One wasted fellow called me the "Jesus-Man" after I was forced to make some extremely difficult choices on a TDY. That may have been as close to thinking about God he got the whole time. Had I said something earlier, it may have been different, who knows?

I've never gone the other way and tried the drinking, but then again I'm pretty sure that if I overdo it once, then I'm going to lose my sanity. I have seen (and heard of) people who call themselves Christians participate in the revelry and I see no difference between them and someone else in a bar when they drink. I'm not making a character judgment, I'm making an observation.
Is it okay to go into a strip-club as long as I don't lust over the models? Well, if it's an emergency and I'm pulling somebody out, I'll go in. I ain't gonna sit in there though. Is it okay for a Christian guy to buy a Maxim as long as he doesn't lust? What's wrong with enjoying the beauty of a woman as long as the hormones don't kick in? Weeeell....hmm...ask your wife (or girlfriend, or for that matter, any Lord-loving female).
We have so much more to think about than our perceived "rights" as believers. Our only "right" is the privilege of dying a slow, painful and bloody death like Jesus did and most of us (in America at least) will probably never have that opportunity. We can only practice the spiritual aspects of dying to ourselves and except for a select few can die for real. Not that I'm asking for it; after all, pain is pain no matter what flavor it comes in.

Here's one more thing and I'll step off the soapbox. When the 'heathen' profane God, it's expected. If he wasn't insulted, stepped on and crucified, He wouldn't have been glorified, and we would have no Savior. I remember not being a Christian, and though I don't remember actively and intentionally "persecuting" Him, I do know that everything I did would have put Him on the Cross had he not already done it.
But what about us believers? Why do we continue to do those things for the sake of our newfound "rights"? We're (and most certainly I) am no different a lot of times, we're just forgiven and praying for change. My rambles are done for now.

What's the point here, anyway?

Dan John's "Another article on steroids."

Wow.

As I read the article, it occurred to me (again) that my body is not the only thing that grows stronger in the gym. It also occurred to me that really, isn't that the point? What's the point of training a body that is just going to die and rot after a few short years? Hmmm. Well, quality of life is an obvious answer, but I'm thinking there is more to it than that.

Why are we created as "three-fold" people - we have a body, we have a spirit, we have a soul. All of these things must come under the mastery of Christ in our lives. Personally, I think the biggest gain of me going to the gym is the mental strength that results from doing a WoD on less than four hours of sleep, or doing three workouts a day, or really, just doing a WoD since one is hard enough by itself.

After I'm done my body is exhausted, worn out and I'm often about ready to puke. My mind is different...it's running on all cylinders (there aren't very many!) and I feel ready to take on anything. If I've trained properly, oftentimes I've also grown just a tad little bit through worship and prayer and praise.

Hmm. Well, there it is...Jesus. He's the point.

So Difficult

Right now I'm really depressed.

I'm TDY and it's difficult watching all the people call loved ones to tell them they landed safely. I'm sitting in my room wishing I could avoid thinking about being so blasted lonely. The other alternative is going out with the crew and watch them get wasted.

At least the room is cushy! I've got a sitting area, a kitchen (with a full-size fridge and a stove and oven), a bedroom and of course the bathroom. I'm accessing the net for $1.98 a day, which isn't bad, considering it's usually purchased by the hour.

I'm watching a program on the History Channel about Rome's Ancient doctors, specifically Galiean (I think that's how you spell it!). This stuff is incredible!! They apparently performed eye surgery, brain surgery, and Galiean was the first recorded doctor to associate symptoms in one place with problems in another place, especially with an emphasis on the central nervous system. Wow!