The Weighting (Alone)

Lord willing, I will be in the weight room at Chancellor's Fitness Center at 5:42 AM tomorrow morning. If you lift, you have routines and you don't like to vary them or at least I don't. This is from June 2, 2010.

I mentioned several days ago that I still run very early in the morning. Even though it's illogical on some fronts as we're out of school, I've started to do my three day a week weight lifting workout at 6AM, right after I get out of the pool. Since my fitness club is across the street, I walk and get there in no time. On Monday, I came into the VP Fitness Center at 6:25 AM and found it deserted. I asked the young man at the desk where everyone was; he thought they might be out of town for Memorial Day. My thought was that many people, not having to go in to work, decided to come in later. I had the place to myself, save for a lady in the pool and a couple on treadmills. There was a woman finishing her crunches in the dumbbell area when I arrived but with that exception, I worked out for seventy minutes in complete solitude......and, I liked it. I know that many of you, like me, are runners or lifters or bikers or any combination of a myriad of regimens. Where some of us part ways is at this juncture; I like to run and lift by myself; I don't want a partner. When I have lifted with a friend, I don't get anything done, feeling obligated to be friendly. Many days this school year, I ate lunch with another teacher, Rachel Matthys, who runs. Rachel told me that one reason she loves running is it's the only time she doesn't have to think. I'm the opposite- I do some of my best thinking.....and praying.....and maybe even writing, when I'm running.

We're all different, aren't we? We do things for the same reasons and the same results but we come at it from different directions and angles. I tell my students you can't tell the story of Jesus in depth without going into the life of John the Baptist. In some ways, they had much in common. Both came from miraculous births surrounded by amazing events. Their mothers were related and they were the same age. They're linked by the baptism of Jesus by John and John's prophetic utterance that his cousin was the lamb of God. They were on the same side spiritually, even though some of John's followers were so loyal they had a hard time accepting Jesus as the Christ. But in manner of life, they seem, at least from what we see in the Gospels, very different. John lived by himself in the wilderness, wore ragged clothing and was a Nazirite who would not have cut his hair or tasted wine. For this lifestyle, he was accused of being demon possessed. On the other hand, Jesus frequented weddings and banquets and feasts with disreputable people and was classified as a drunk and a glutton for His attempts to go where sinners were congregating. Maybe their missions helped determined their personalities. Would they have been comfortable if their living arrangements were reversed? Several years ago, one of my fellow Bible teachers at WCS, Josh Bontrager, told me at lunch he wanted to start coming with me to our weight room before school to lift. Josh asked what time I got here and I truthfully told him, ''4:30.'' His next two words were classic: ''Never mind.'' Josh was a morning person but not that much of a morning person. But, he still wanted to stay in shape even if not quite at the timetable to which I am accustomed. The Lord lets us function effectively within a variety of personailties and in my case, quirks. I think John the Baptist was a little quirky himself...... and I bet he would have been a beast in the weight room.

Applicable quote of the day:
''Without great solitude no serious work is possible.''

Pablo Picasso

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

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E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com