Running: Boston Strong

This week I ran the Boston Marathon...the small town in Michigan where I grew up asked me to write a little story line about my experience. What follows is the thoughts in writing that I submitted:

Running….from Marcellus to Boston

The journey, which recently took me to Boston to run the 117^th Boston Marathon, all started in Marcellus, MI. Our family moved from Illinois to Marcellus in the late 1950s where we would live for the entirety of my school years, culminating in graduation from high school in 1972. These were good years for me growing up in Marcellus…good friends, and good times…and it was in Marcellus that I discovered my love for, and my ability to run. I, like many others kids, participated in school sports like football and basketball, but really never excelled in these arenas. However, when I discovered that I could run distance races with some success, I put my whole heart into it. During track season it was not uncommon for me to go out for early morning runs along the roads before getting ready for school. And remember, this was in the days before it was common place to see “joggers” out doing their thing. Recently, I have regained contact with one of my high school track coaches, Mr. Teremi, and we have enjoyed chatting with each other via email. I think, for a time, I held both the 2 mile run and 1 mile run Marcellus High School records, although there is no doubt that these have been surpassed significantly by now. For my junior and senior years of high school, I qualified to run at the State meet.

The years that followed high school graduation were followed by a lot of travel, including volunteer work in Europe as well as in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. I didn’t go to college immediately, however, I never left running completely always coming back to it in one form or the other. My first full marathon was the Detroit Free Press Marathon in October of 1980. I had never run this distance before, and wasn’t sure what to expect. However, we started the race in Windsor, Ontario and ran under the Detroit River through the tunnel and ran through the streets of Detroit finishing up on Belle Isle. I think I ran a 3:08 that time. The following year, I ran the Free Press Marathon again, not knowing that it would not be for another 28 years or so until I would do it again. I still participated in running and training, but mostly for races like 10K events or even 10 mile competitions like the Bobby Crimm run up in Flint, MI.

In 1995 I finished my Master’s work at Wayne State University to become a nurse practitioner, and then moved from the Detroit area down to Las Cruces, New Mexico where I live now. Living in the Desert South-West gave me very agreeable weather conditions to continue running, and so a few years ago, I registered to run the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon in Phoenix on January 18, 2009. I certainly wasn’t as fast as I was back in 1981, but I realized that I could still do the long distance. That is when the thought of running Boston was conceived in my mind.

The Boston Marathon is the “grand-daddy” of all marathons with such a rich history and heritage. Unlike other marathons, you cannot just sign up and pay the registration fee to run Boston…it is the only marathon where one has to run a qualifying time in another marathon to be accepted as an entrant. So, in December of 2011, I ran a 3:30 Tucson Marathon in Tucson, AZ. I was on my way to Boston!

I registered and was accepted for the 117^th running of the Boston Marathon and began making preparations for the trip. Hotel and flight reservations were made, and I began the weeks of training involved in getting my body ready for the run. I arrived in Boston a few days before the marathon and was happy to see that the city was gearing up for its annual Patriot’s Day event. The marathon is always run on the third Monday of April, which in Massachusetts is Patriot’s Day…the state’s biggest holiday.

On race day morning, April 15, thousands of us showed up at the Boston Commons to catch buses out to the small town of Hopkinton…about 26 miles west of the center of Boston. Arriving at the start, about 27,000 of us hung out in the athletes’ village awaiting the start. Since the field of runners is so large, the race starts in 3 separate waves based on qualifying times…I was in the second wave so my start time was 10:20 am.

As the gun went off, we all started moving slowly toward the starting line…each of was wearing a computer chip that was under our bib number…our official time wouldn’t actually start until we crossed the starting line. As we ran along the course through different hamlets and towns, the people of the Boston area lined the course by the thousands, offering support by way of cheers, orange slices and other helpful items…the support from the crowds was amazing! The last six miles or so were pretty hard, and there is a famous hill called Heartbreak Hill that takes quite a bit out of your legs…at this point sheer determination seems to be the only operative commodity. Finally, seeing the finish line in the distance, my spirits lifted and I made it across in 3:37!

After finishing a major marathon like this, there is a process that takes place right after the run. Immediately, you are given hydration, and then very soon a “space blanket” is wrapped around you to prevent hypothermia, especially if it is a bit cool…which it was! All crowded together, hundreds of us are in a barricaded street marching on to the next station which is receiving our medals!!! Finally!!! Then, we make our way to the buses that have brought our clothing bags from the starting line. There is also food like bananas, power bars and snacks being given to us as we march along.

After this process, since I had no family with me, I decided to catch the subway train back to my hotel. Going down into the noisy and crowded underground station, we were packed onto the “green line” train. Just as it was ready to pull out of the station, everybody was told to get off and evacuate the station…we weren’t sure why. When I emerged from the station, I didn’t realize the magnitude of what had happened since this subway station was about 2 blocks from the finish line.

So without realizing what had happened while I was down in the subway station, I started walking to another station to see if I could catch a blue line train…I should tell you that “walking” is not really accurate…it would be more like “hobbling”! After running 26 miles…especially at my age of 59, the bones, muscles and joints don’t want to move…so, ambulation is very painful!

Anyway, after going for about 3 miles or so, I finally found a station that was still servicing outbound trains to where I needed to go…and after about 2 ½ hours I finally made it back to the hotel. Since I didn’t have my phone with me, I spent the next hour or so getting in touch with my family and friends to let them know that I was alright…many had been worried when they couldn’t reach me. By that time, I was watching the events unfold on the television, and fully understood the magnitude of the tragic events that I had just missed. And so, after another unrelated airline delay the next day, I finally made it home on Wednesday to be with my family.

Yes, I will keep running, as I know that thousands of others will be doing…and maybe, I will go back to Boston in 2014 to run the Boston Marathon to honor those who were hurt and killed in this senseless act of cowardice. Please, join with me in your prayers for the many athletes, volunteers, and spectators who have been adversely affected by this tragedy. Thanks!

The Logic of Jesus

One of the most common ways that Jesus would teach people while he walked this planet was to encourage them to use their capacity to think. He didn’t usually tell them “Believe this because I say it is true!” That, in fact, was much the way the scribes and “God experts” of the day would teach people…sadly, many God experts in the 21st century use the same authoritarian mode over people. Sometimes, people are even discouraged from thinking rationally and logically about God with the authority saying “God’s ways are not our ways…his thoughts are not our thoughts, and we can’t understand, we just have to believe” with the implicit understanding being the God expert’s own spin on some particular scripture or spiritual matter.

But Jesus is different…in fact, people noticed this difference right away when they remarked: “He teaches differently…like he knows what he is talking about…not like our regular spiritual teachers”.

One simple teaching that comes from the Sermon on the Mount illustrates this well. Jesus is trying to convey something of the goodness and loving nature of God, so he says: “You parents---if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask him.”  See what Jesus is doing. He is asking us to look at something that is a known fact…the inherent parental nature to do good for our children, despite our own flaws, and then transfer that goodness to him whose image we have been created in, and who has no flaws. The logical conclusion is “Yes!! God is a very good father who will only do good for us, his children”. So we don’t need to live our lives in anxiety and worry. Jesus encourages us to think through these issues about God.

Now, let us use some liberty and expand on this parable a bit. Suppose that a recently married man and woman have started talking about having children. They both came from loving families, but the woman knew also that there were some genetic abnormalities in her family that had cause some birth defects in the past. So, they decide to get some genetic testing done before pursuing children of their own. Finally when the tests come back the geneticist tells them that if they conceive and give birth to a child there is more than an 80% chance that it will be deformed. Not only would this child have a horrendous physical and mental deformity that would cause it great mental and emotional suffering, but it would also be born with a physical condition that would cause the child to be in continual, excruciating pain 24 hours a day, and would be unable to be relieved with any type of pain relievers.

Now, armed with this knowledge, wouldn’t it be safe to say that even though this couple really wants children of their own, they would not be “good” people is they chose to ignore the facts and go ahead and conceive a child anyway? Wouldn’t the good and right thing be to remain childless, or maybe to choose the route of adoption?

And so it must be with God.  If he knew that somewhere around 80% of humanity would reject him (as evangelicals are fond of saying), and that because of this rejection, he would cast them into an eternal torture chamber, continually burning with napalm all over them for eternity (again as evangelicals are fond of saying), would he be considered a good and loving God? Could the apostle John describe him in the simple words: “God is Love”?

I don’t think so…Jesus teaches us that God is good and that he cares for the most minute details of our lives. We can rest in what God has done to take care of any hindrances that may keep us from experiencing his love for eternity.

A Gift?

Recently a friend posted this on her Facebook. I am sure that it was meant to garner praise for such wonderful parenting skills and discipline (you may agree)…however, my immediate thought was that this is exactly what the God Experts and the Institutional Church  have done with God’s free gift of life through Jesus. On the one hand, they call it a “free gift”, but when you look at the fine print it is clouded…depending on which particular flavor of church you adhere to….by conditional restrictions. "Yes you can have the free gift of salvation, BUT….you must come to church regularly, give money to support the church, clean up your bad habits, dress appropriately, listen to the right kind of music, etc., etc., etc."

Whereas Jesus teaches that the gift of life through him has been ALREADY freely given! We just need to start living in the reality of that truth. NO STRINGS ATTACHED!! NO CONDITIONAL CLAUSES IN THE FINE PRINT!

Here is the article…what do you think?


Hoffman is a kid who just got an iPhone from his parents. His mom, Janell Hoffman, wrote these [slightly edited] rules for its use:

1. It is my phone. I bought it. I pay for it. I am loaning it to you. Aren't I the greatest?
2. I will always know the password.
3. If it rings, answer it. It is a phone. Say hello, use your manners. Do not ever ignore a phone call if the screen reads "Mom" or "Dad". Not ever.
4. Hand the phone to one of your parents promptly at 7:30pm every school night & every weekend night at 9:00pm. It will be shut off for the night and turned on again at 7:30am. If you would not make a call to someone's land line, wherein their parents may answer first, then do not call or text. Listen to those instincts and respect other families like we would like to be respected.
5. It does not go to school with you. Have a conversation with the people you text in person. It's a life skill.
6. If it falls into the toilet, smashes on the ground, or vanishes into thin air, you are responsible for the replacement costs or repairs.
7. Do not use this technology to lie, fool, or deceive another human being. Do not involve yourself in conversations that are hurtful to others. Be a good friend first or stay the hell out of the crossfire.
8-9. Do not text, email, or say anything through this device you would not say in person.
10. No porn.
11. Turn it off, silence it, put it away in public. Especially in a restaurant, at the movies, or while speaking with another human being. You are not a rude person; do not allow the iPhone to change that.
12. Do not send or receive pictures of your private parts or anyone else's private parts. Don't laugh. Someday you will be tempted to do this despite your high intelligence. It is risky and could ruin your teenage/college/adult life. It is always a bad idea. Cyberspace is vast and more powerful than you. And it is hard to make anything of this magnitude disappear -- including a bad reputation.
13. Don't take a zillion pictures and videos. There is no need to document everything. Live your experiences. They will be stored in your memory for eternity.
14. Leave your phone home sometimes and feel safe and secure in that decision. It is not alive or an extension of you. Learn to live without it. Be bigger and more powerful than FOMO -- fear of missing out.
15. Download music that is new or classic or different than the millions of your peers that listen to the same exact stuff. Your generation has access to music like never before in history. Take advantage of that gift. Expand your horizons.
16. Play a game with words or puzzles or brain teasers every now and then.
17. Keep your eyes up. See the world happening around you. Stare out a window. Listen to the birds. Take a walk. Talk to a stranger. Wonder without googling.
18. You will mess up. I will take away your phone. We will sit down and talk about it. We will start over again. You & I, we are always learning. I am on your team. We are in this together.

Book Review: "Cross Roads" by Wm. Paul Young

Well, Wm. Paul Young has done it again!! As you know, his first novel, "The Shack" stirred millions of readers to the core of their beings, shedding insightful light on the character of God and his relentless love of us. Of course, many were stirred in a different way...to anger and disgust...because the paradigm of this relationship with God that was offered up by Young didn't fit with their own cherished personal orthodoxy about God. Anyway, if you read "The Shack", and it moved you in either of these two ways, I suspect that Young's most recent book "Cross Roads" will do much the same if, and when you read it.

Young has such insights into the mysteries of life and our relationship with God that it is difficult not to let these truths soak into our souls. It is not so much that he "solves" the mysteries, but rather presents them is such a way that living in the land of mystery and paradox is something to be more desired than cut and dried theological answers and keeping "God in a box" sort of thinking.

I personally liked this book better than "The Shack"...but again, that is a personal opinion. As I read others' reviews I see that some preferred "Cross Roads", and others liked the first book, "The Shack" better. My take on this is that each book meets each of us where we are at, and touches us at a very personal level. "Cross Roads" stirred me deeply because it exposed and explained to me many of the dysfunctional survival mechanisms that I have developed over the years that have resulted in people close to me being hurt. And yet, this is done in a grace filled way that brings hope instead of condemnation. Let me paste here the published book description so that you can get a sense of what the story is all about.

"Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He 'awakens' to find himself in a surreal world, a 'living' landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt. It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to authenticity and perhaps, redemption. The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to 'see' through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is "blind" to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerge to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart? Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?"

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 stars....I have already bought 5 more copies and suspect I will be buying more to give away to friends!

A Kingdom Principle: Non-Interference

Jesus told a story about the kingdom of God. He said: “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who one day planted good seed in his field. But later that night while everyone one was getting a good night’s rest, his enemy came and spread seeds of weeds all over the ground and then slipped away before anyone woke up…nobody knew that this had happened. Even when green shoots began to appear in the ground it wasn’t apparent that there were good plants and bad plants. Finally when the good seed began to form heads of grain the bad plants were observed to be weeds. The workers went to the farmer and said ‘Wasn’t that quality seed that you planted? So where did all of these weeds come from?’ The farmer said ‘An enemy has done this’. So the farm workers asked him if they should go pull out the weeds to clean up the field. The farmer said ‘No, let them grow together…if you pull out the weeds, you will uproot a lot of the good grain plants as well. I will take care of the matter at harvest time’. “

Now, this story…or parable…certainly has a lot of meaning about the kingdom of God, and even some eschatological implications. But that is not what strikes me today. What I see here is our (farm workers) obsession with wanting to “fix” things and make things right….right away! Certain things, of course, do need some immediate attention. If in the dead of winter, the furnace in your home in Montana goes belly up…you will want to fix it as soon as possible! But issues of the kingdom usually revolve around relationships, personalities and lifestyles. Our tendency…as members of God’s kingdom is to see things that appear to be “wrong”  in others…(and maybe even in ourselves)….and immediately we set out to “fix” the problem. Jesus seems to be saying here that there is a kingdom principle of “non-interference” that we should follow for the purpose of allowing God to work things out in his way and in his time.

After all…the kingdom of God is like yeast that is hidden in a lump of dough that invisibly does its job…but that is another parable!

Hello, my name is.....

Nathanael vs. Jacob

No…it isn’t the boxing match of the century. Rather, it is the contrast between two biblical characters. I would imagine any student of the scriptures will recognize the names.

Nathanael was one of Jesus’ first disciples…he was approached by his friend Philip with the news that they had found the messiah…Jesus from Nazareth! Nathanael’s reply was profound and filled with prejudice: “Nazareth!! Can anything good come out of that crummy town?”

When he met Jesus, he said to, and about Nathanael: “Here is a man of true integrity…not a false bone in his body!”  Quite a compliment, I think. You can read more about that encounter at the end of John 1.

Now Jacob is an Old Testament main character…in fact, he was the immediate patriarch of the nation of Israel. But as you read about him…it is clear that he was not the same as Nathanael: A man of integrity. In fact, he was much the opposite…a deceiver, a liar, a manipulator…pretty much a scoundrel.  And yet, God blessed him tremendously, and made him the father of the nation of Israel…and a direct ancestor of the Christ.

These two men are much more a study in contrast than comparison. Yet both were blessed with God’s presence.

It is quite embarrassing, but I find myself very much like Jacob. I have managed to get through life in less than honorable ways. I am a survivor. And as a result, I have lied, I have cheated, I have deceived, I have stolen, I have abused alcohol, and as a result, I have lost the trust of some people who have been close to me. I say all of this to my own shame and heartache.

But…despite what I have done, and despite what others think of me, I know that my Father fully accepts me just as I am and longs to embrace me in his arms telling me that I am the “apple of his eye”.

It is my deep desire to live in the present fullness of his love…the Spirit of Jesus…changing me and flowing out of me in ways that I cannot even imagine. I will never be like Nathanael, but God has blessed me…a modern Jacob, with the blessing of his presence. I want to enter this more deeply.

Pabulum for the Masses

The discussion centered around a recently published book by C. Baxter Kruger entitled: “The Shack Revisited“. In this book, Kruger, (author of “The Great Dance“, and others) dissects, and brings out the theological undertones of the story in Wm. Paul Young’s book “The Shack”…some of you will remember that book and the impact it had on many in our society.  Of course, in any discussion about Kruger’s book, there were bound to be opinions about Young’s book “The Shack”. That unique story was a phenomenon for a couple of years that touched the hearts of many and outraged many others. It has been referred to as a clear presentation of God’s love for us and his acceptance of us….and it has been decried as heresy by others. Opinions abound. My opinion of the message contained in  “The Shack” is of little significance… but one thing that I can say is that it was “a message of hope” which struck the heart cords of many.

And so as this discussion went on, Pat (not real name) said: 
 “…to me ‘the shack’ was pablum (sic)  for the masses. In some ways I felt it insulted my intelligence, I can see where some may find some sort of comfort in it, but for me no.”

Now understand that the way this term “pabulum” is used in this context means something like “being very, very simplistic.” It is descriptive, but also kind of condescending and demeaning.

As I got to thinking about these comments, it struck me that they were pretty accurate on one hand, and revealing on the other hand.

I have worked with the disenfranchised people of our society for a long time. I have worked with leprosy patients in Nepal and Ethiopia and the ragged poor in Guatemala. For the last 10 years or so my jobs have included being the Medical Director at a large county jail and now working in a psychiatric hospital...so, I am always in contact with those who "don't have it together" as we would like to say. To me, "The Shack" is a story of the Gospel, and if this joyous, extravagant "good news" is not simple enough for the "masses" (the majority of the world's population) to understand and embrace with joy, then it doesn't deserve to be called "the Gospel". It is easy, and somewhat ego boosting for those of us who can interact and discuss "intelligently" the virtues and fine nuances of theology, but most people either don't have the time or capacity for these kinds of mental gymnastics.

It was the masses...the rejects, the poor, the mentally infirm, the felons, and the simple manual laborers that were drawn to Jesus...and when he told them about the love and delight of their Abba for them, it was in simple story form that they could understand and stake their lives on. They, the masses, were able to embrace this simple "Good News" with joy.