Your First Triathlon by Joe Friel

With my first triathlon 4 weeks away, needless to say I am a little nervous! A few weeks ago when I decided I wanted to train for and participate in triathlons, I had just completed my second marathon. This past Saturday, I finished my fifth marathon in four months. 

I am not a fast runner. In fact, I ran progressively slower each successive marathon, but I was not running them for PR's (personal records). Okay, during the second one I took a needless bathroom break at mile 17 because I "felt" 10 minutes ahead of my pace in first marathon and missed a PR by 32 seconds! (I'm over it now). But it is true that, for the most part, I ran the five marathons for endurance which is how beginner triathletes, like me, need to train. 

I finished reading Your First Triathlon by Joe Friel about a month ago and have benefited greatly from having it on hand the closer the date for my first tri approaches. I have been swimming in the local wellness center pool for about a month now, and I am improving each time I swim. The scariest thing to me about participating in a triathlon is the open water swim (OWS). Friel gives sound advice on the necessity of respecting an open water swim. 

Assumed Dualism in Christianity: What It Is & How to Notice It

Occasionally, we hear stories about families who are faced with the reality of a disease they were not aware even existed. Or, perhaps, we hear of a condition someone has, but we really do not understand how it affects those close to it. In these situations not being aware does not effect the presence or reality of the disease or condition. What has changed is the awareness of those now affected.

From the day awareness is increased, however, we attempt to learn all we can about that which has begun to affect every part of the way life must now be lived. It may also be true that we live with a condition for a length of time but never realize we are being affected by it. It is from this last standpoint that I hope to increase our awareness about the concept of assumed dualism in Christianity.

In a previous article I mentioned that our beliefs, or conclusions, about what "the Bible says" are only as valid as the assumptions on which they are based. Dualism is an assumption that affects our interpretation of various passages in the Bible, and therefore, our conclusions or beliefs about what the Bible says in those verses.

To illustrate how assumptions affect our lives, for example: if you have been taught, by those you trust from previous generations, that baptism is sprinkling, or pouring (forms of washing), instead of immersion (to dip, plunge, be submerged), then your conclusions/beliefs about what it means to "be baptized" will be affected. This is turn will affect what you do concerning the Biblical command to "be baptized." In a more general way, the way we live life is based on our worldview which forms our cultural lifestyles concerning "religion" being separate from "secular" life.

For some of us, we may think that we have understood what "being baptized" means and never give consideration that we have not done just as those in the Bible. However, because of our assumptions inherited from church traditions, often based on the interpretation of only a few people who agree with one another and which are handed down from generation to generation, our conclusion may be faulty. Similarly, for others, the way Christians have come to view worship--and indeed living the Christian life itself--is affected by our assumptions from the teachings of historically recent and select preachers many of which are based on dualism.

As A Man Thinketh by James Allen

As A Man Thinketh by James Allen (Free)

THOUGHT & ACHIEVEMENT

“All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe...individual responsibility must be absolute. A man’s weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man’s; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man’s. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is. As he continues to think, so he remains.”

“A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition. It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves."

“The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed. He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.”

What Is School For?

http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/stopstealingdreamsscreen.pdf

Because we are so influenced by cultural thinking, often without even knowing it.

Because we do not challenge our assumptions, the status quo, or even ourselves enough.

And especially, because we view the church as a school instead of a family, the same problems that we have in our schools, we will have in our churches--regardless of how much we try to compartmentalize our lives.

All of life is interconnected and will affect the other parts.

The following excerpt by Seth Godin on the purpose of schools in the 20th century United States is just as applicable to the institutional church, if not more-so. 

As Robert Anthony said, "A lesson that has taken us far too long to learn is that the opposite of bravery is not cowardice, but conformity."

Godin writes,

"A hundred and fifty years ago, adults were incensed about child labor. Low-wage kids were taking jobs away from hardworking adults. Sure, there was some moral outrage about seven-year-olds losing fingers and being abused at work, but the economic rationale was paramount. Factory owners insisted that losing child workers would be catastrophic to their industries and fought hard to keep the kids at work—they said they couldn’t afford to hire adults."

"It wasn’t until 1918 that nationwide compulsory education was in place. Part of the rationale used to sell this major transformation to industrialists was the idea that educated kids would actually become more compliant and productive workers. Our current system of teaching kids to sit in straight rows and obey instructions isn’t a coincidence—it was an investment in our economic future."

"The plan: trade short-term child-labor wages for longer-term productivity by giving kids a head start in doing what they’re told. Large-scale education was not developed to motivate kids or to create scholars."

"It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system."