THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp in 50s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Imperial Squat Walkers, 10 Gas Pumps, 10 Tempo Merkins, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 Windmills, 10 Twisties.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Bat Cave. We will do the following going counterclockwise:
- Run down stairs and do 20 Carolina Dry Docks.
- Run to grove of trees at climb of Mt. Everest and do 10 Burpees.
- Run to summit of Mt. Everest and do 20 Hello Dollies.
- Run to Bat Cave and do 20 Star Jumps.
- Rinse and repeat two more times.
Mosey to stop sign at southeastern corner of Administration Bldg. Do 20 American Hammers.
Mosey to Area 51. We will split into teams of two for Doras. While one partner runs to the curb by the hill at Area 51, does 5 decline merkins, then runs back, the other partner works on the exercises listed below. Teammates then switch. Here are the exercises:
- 200 Rocky Balboas, both feet = 1.
- 200 Flutter Kicks, both feet = 1.
- 200 Bicycle Kicks, both feet = 1
- 200 Baby Crunches
Mosey to park entrance on Northshore, then take perimeter trail past the utility bldg. We will stop to do 20 lunges, both legs = 1.
Mosey to bottom of Mt. Everest. We will stop to do 50 Baby Crunches. We will then run up Everest. Those reaching the roadway first do more Baby Crunches until the six is there.
Run to top of the Space Needle and then mosey to the AO.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
NO HARD FEELIMGS
I gave a message about this topic and this song by the Avett Brothers a few years ago. I think the topic is important enough and the song is amazing enough to cover again. The topic is Forgiveness and the song by the Avett brothers is “No Hard Feelings.”
The Lord commands us to forgive. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In Matthew 6:14 Jesus says, “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” And, in discussing the idea of forgiveness, Jesus said to forgive one who has sinned against you not seven times but seventy times seven times.
These commandments are made not only for the benefit of those who have sinned against us but for us who must do the forgiving. If we hang on to the anger, the bitterness, the hurt of being wronged, these “hard feelings” can eat us up inside. In their song, “No Hard Feelings”, the Avett brothers recognize the destructiveness that unforgiving hard feelings can have despite the goodness that life offers us:
Lord knows they haven’t done
Much good for anyone
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold.
Yet in their song, the Avett brothers recognize the difficulty that we, as humans, have in forgiving. It is difficult enough those people in that other political party or the neighbors who keep their front yard messy. But how do we forgive someone who has truly hurt us or one of our family members? The quality of “true forgiveness” is a Christ-like virtue that we must continually strive to attain. The narrator hopes for that state by saying,
When the sun hangs low in the west
And the light in my chest
Won’t be kept held at bay any longer
When the jealousy fades away
And it’s ash and dust for cash and lust
And it’s just hallelujah
And love in thoughts and love in the words
Love in the songs they sing in the church
And no hard feelings.
The fact is that we humans, as sinners, find it so very hard to forgive. Christ asks us to turn the other cheek. That takes a bravery that is quite difficult for us to muster. In the Avett Brothers song, the narrator looks at his own life and wonders if by his death he can accomplish the task. The song uses a beautiful image of walking straight to the life after death and running into the savior. The narrator of the song yearns for the final result of godlike forgiveness within himself by chanting the final line of the song four straight times:
Will I join with the ocean blue
Or run into the savior true
And shake hands laughing
And walk through the night
Straight to the light
Holding the love I’ve known in my life
And no hard feelings
Lord knows they haven’t done
Much good for anyone
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold
Under the curving sky
I’m finally learning why
It matters to me and you
To say it and mean it too
For life and its loveliness
And all of its ugliness
Good as it’s been to me
I have no enemies
I have no enemies
I have no enemies
I have no enemies.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Down Under’s son, Hunter, age 17, who had hoped to go into military after high school where he is in ROTC. He learned that due to a medical condition, he will not be qualified to go into the military. Prayers of thanks for the mother of Steam’s future bride. Steam’s future mother-in-law found out that her breast cancer is now in remission after chemotherapy and radiation. Prayers for our brother, Sparkler, as he continues to recover from his rotator cuff surgery.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Board Meeting!