THE SCENE: Not too hot, cloudy, low 80s, but soooo dang humid. Not a stirring of a breeze to be found…
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
Welcome to F3, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is a free workout program designed to improve fitness, share some camaraderie, and foster male leadership in the community. I’m Pele and I will be your Q today. I am not a professional, and I do not know your fitness level or injury history. Please push yourself, but modify the workout as necessary to avoid making any existing injuries worse. The goal is to get better together! Some additional COVID-19 considerations: keep your distance between you and other members of the PAX and any other folks that we pass during moseys, etc. to 6-10 feet. We will be splitting up into groups smaller than 50 if necessary. We need to set good examples and be good neighbors out here at this public park, especially with so many folks out and about.
WARM-O-RAMA:
-25 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence
– 10 Abe Vigodas (4-ct), in cadence
– 25 Grady Corns (4-ct), in cadence
– 25 Tempo Squats (4-ct), in cadence
THA-THANG:
MOSEY to Area 51 parking lot.
- 25s! 5x/20x, 10x/15x, 15x/10x, 20x/5x Reps of exercises
- EXERCISES: Bobby Hurleys (far side) and Carolina Dry Docks (near side)
- Do first exercise, run down to opposite side of the lot, do other exercise, BERNIE back.
MOSEY to top of sidewalk hill, going towards Everest. 20 American Hammers. 20 count.
Continue to Base of Everest. 10 American Hammers/10 Hello Dollies/10 Bicycle Kicks (4-ct), run to base of summit. Hold Plank until 6 catches up.
GRINDERS! Count off by 4s to do a staggered start. 1’s start immediately, 2’s = 5 Imperial Walkers, 3’s = 10 Imperial Walkers, 4’s = 15 Imperial Walkers then start. When finished do Imperial Walkers until 6 catches up
- BASE OF SUMMIT: 25 1/2 Burpees (no pushup), run up to top of summit
- TOP OF SUMMIT: 25 LBCs, run to bat house
- BAT HOUSE: 25 Smurf Jacks, run down stairs
- BOTTOM OF STAIRS: 25 BBS, run back to summit
RINSE AND REPEAT (we really only did this once, but ran the summit hill twice)
.11s W/ PARTNER in grassy area with wall at top of Evereset: Exercises are DIPS and INCLINE MERKINS. One partner does the 11, while the other partner does LBCs, then switch. Progress through the 11s sequence until we run out of time. (most pairs got to 6/5 or 5/6).
Mosey to AO.
MARY:
25 Hello Dollies, courtesy of Lillydipper, (who was complaining about getting on our 6 in the newly cut grass, so I “volunteered” him to lead so he’d quit his yappin’ 😉 ), 10 star jacks, courtesy of Brick, who after his VQ on Tuesday is almost a professional . All 4-ct, IC.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 HIMs, including one FNG!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
THE STORY OF JOSEPH. The story of Joseph has been on my mind lately. Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, and Jacob’s favorite. He was a Daddy’s boy. Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat (coat of many colors), and Joseph had dreams showing him as superior to his brothers, which he tells them about for some reason. Maybe not the best idea. To no one’s surprise, all of this causes the brothers to become jealous, throw him in a pit, and sell him into slavery in Egypt. Although they left him essentially for dead, Joseph thrives in Egypt and becomes vizier to the Pharaoh. The brothers return to him during a famine, starving, asking for help, but they don’t recognize him. He is in the position of evening the score. REVENGE!! (cue Braveheart music…) Does he let bitterness take over his heart? No. He ultimately brings his whole family over to Egypt, saving them from the famine.
Who else has thought to themselves when they’re in a difficult situation, struggling in life, or at their wit’s end, “NOTHING GOOD CAN COME OF THIS”? But looking back, how often do you see that something good HAS come of it? God is always there, bending our history and lives to justice and love. As Joseph tells his brothers when they are reunited, what they had meant for evil, God had meant for good.
Even in the greatest darkness there can be something beautiful and good. A literal example of this can be seen in some of the great paintings of the world. There are brushstrokes of darkness and light. The most beautiful pieces of art contain both sadness and joy. Without those dark areas, the art would not be as beautiful. So it is with life. There is always a source of comfort in difficult times for those who love God. In the story of Joseph, God was there with him, in the pit, as a slave, in prison, and in Egypt.
Instead of revenge, Jacob focuses on what is JUST, KIND, and RIGHT. He helps his brothers and brings his family to Egypt to avoid the famine. He does not take the dangerous position of standing in for God.
I saw another example of this in Abscess’s Facebook post from Dredd who was discussing a sign that said NO BIGOTS, RACISTS OR MISOGYNISTS. His point was essentially that this is the wrong approach. While the sentiment may be admirable, you could argue that this type of judgmental exclusion is taking the position of standing in for God. We should actually invite factionalists to our table and sit down with them, so we can have discussions. Who are we to judge? The Pharisees mocked Jesus for the low company he kept and brought an adulterer to him demanding justice. The penalty was death by stoning. That’s when Jesus said “Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone”. They all dropped their stones and went home. It does us little good to judge, especially when none of us are exempt from flaws and sin.
We don’t always have to even the score. Let go of the anger, the frustration, the desire for vengeance, like Jinxy talked about in his Word at the workout on Saturday. Get rid of it. There is another path. Today’s world has complex problems, and one of the difficulties I have is that I often see some value in everyone’s perspective (LIBRAs, amiright??…). Therefore, I have trouble coming to a definitive conclusion about what the best solution is, and become frustrated that there are so many problems, and so few solutions. The world is very confusing, and the problems we face are numerous, nuanced, and intertwined. It can be overwhelming to try to make sense of it, try to figure out exactly how to act and fix it. I think that if we all focused on what is JUST, what is KIND, and what is RIGHT, we can make a bit of difference in the world for the better.
MOLESKIN:
Praise for Jenner for positive developments in his pursuit of a medical degree. Prayers for Guppy’s grandmother and for Jan, Lillydipper’s wife.
Welcome to FNG Spanky! (Raphael… sorry, I forgot his last name. He is friends with Puddle)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None