F3 Knoxville

Tag: Abacus

Scarred

THE SCENE: Light rain, temp in low 60s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops, 20 Plank Jacks, 10 Windmills, 10 Rockettes, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward.
THA-THANG:
Our AO for the day was the pavilion at the Northern Ball Fields.

Mosey to semi-circle roadway that goes by soccer fields.  We ran high knee for 10 stakes, did 10 squats, then butt-kicked for 10 stakes and did 10 squats.  We continued that pattern until the end of the semi-circle roadway.  We then returned to the start with the same pattern but this time doing squat jumps instead of squats.  We, finally, went back on the semi-circle, this time doing Bernie Sander for 20 states and 5 Imperial Walkers, repeating that pattern to the end of the semi-circle roadway.

Mosey to parking lot by southern ball fields.  We did suicides up parking lot, running to each of the large light posts along the parking lot.  When we got back from each cone we did 20 Squats.  We rinsed and repeated.

Mosey back to the street but stop at curb before stop sign.  We did 10 tempo merkins by curb.

Mosey to parking lot with the islands that is located south of the Northern Ball Fields.  We divided into three groups.  Two groups positioned themselves on islands on the opposite end of the parking lot.  While the third group ran from one end of the parking lot to the other, the groups on either island alternated between doing 10 incline merkins on curb and 10 bench dips on curb.  Once the running group got to the island then they started the exercises while the group that was there ran to the other end.  This pattern continued until all groups had run from one end to the other two times.

Mosey to Pavilion.  At pavilion, we ran to benches, did 10 bench jumps and ran back to pavilion.  Rinse and repeat.

Finish at Pavilion.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Galatians 6:17

From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.

I’m going to talk a little bit about the importance of scars, the importance of wounds.  As men, we sometimes take a bit of pleasure in showing our scars to one another.  Sounds weird, but I think there are good reasons for it.  By sharing we show one another that we have been wounded and have that in common.  We also show we were tough enough to take it.

Our brother, Pusher, has told me of a tradition in the Philippines where boys are circumcised at the age of ten.  Think about how painful that is for a ten-year-old.  For two weeks after the circumcision that boy, in fact, wears a dress because the touch of pants to the circumcised area would be too painful.  Filipinos realize that they could change the age of the circumcision – to circumcise at that age is certainly not a medical necessity.  But in the Philippines it is a rite of passage.  The boy fears the moment, fears the pain, but in enduring it makes a major step toward manhood.  He can walk proudly, knowing he has endured it.

The Aborigines have an interesting rite of passage that I read about.  At the time of puberty the male or female meets overnight with the same sex members of their community who tell them stories of manhood or womanhood.  Afterwards, the male or female meets in a ceremony with their father and mother.  Both the father and the mother each take a sharp claw from an animal and cut the skin on the chest of the child.  The cuts form permanent wounds that will remain on the daughter or son’s breast for the rest of their life.  It is a symbol of recognition: “I have been wounded by my parents and I must accept that fact.  In accepting it, I can become a woman or a man.”  I love that – my parents love me but they have also wounded me and I need to man up to that.

I can remember my cousin and I talking, at about college age, about the types of women we would like to marry.  Of course we talked about physical beauty.  But we also talked about the character of the woman we wanted to marry.  We both agreed that we would rather marry a woman who had been wounded by some hardships than marry a woman who never had faced hardships and was completely innocent.  Our scars give us character.  They also help us to empathize with the pain and hardships experienced by others.

I accept that I have been scarred by life.  I cannot deny it or escape it.  I am not the Innocent Man that Billy Joel sang about.  But, as a Christian, the ultimate example of empathy for me is our Lord Christ.  I expose my scars to Him.  For, He was willing to take on the scars of the Cross to save humankind from our sinfulness.  In recognizing this, in baptizing myself to this, I am given the ultimate rite of passage.  And, as Paul states in Galatians 6:17, “from now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.”

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Helga and his wife who is having surgery, for Steam’s father who just had total knee replacement surgery, and for Steam as he considers a new job.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill on Saturday, October 3.

Double Ring of Fire and some hard work and sweat at the Asylum

THE SCENE: Slightly overcast, temps in the mid-80s and a bit muggy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH 20 IC
Cherry Pickers 15 IC
Windmills 15 IC
Grady Corns 31 IC
Merkins 10 IC

THA-THANG:
I

Mosey to Hill west of stop sign
1. 15 Merkins – Bernie to next station
2.  15 BBS-   Run to next station
3.  20 Squats Bear Crawl to next station
 4.  20 American Hammers (4 ct) –Run

Rinse n repeat

Mosey to Tree at bottom of hill – divide across each cone
Cone 1 – 20 Hello Dollys (4ct) , Cone 2 – 20 Imperial Walkers (4ct), Cone 3 – 20 shoulder taps (4 ct)

Rinse and repeat
I minute Plank
Quick Ring of Fire – 1 merkin each
Mosey to Island
Partner up
Run Opposite direction.  When you meet within 6 feet, 5 Merkins , run again, 10 Merkins, run again – 15 merkins
Rinse and repeat – 5 Bobby Hurleys, 10 Bobby Hurleys, 15 Bobby Hurleys
Mosey to halfway up hill towards AO – One more Ring of Fire

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Wayne Dyer- Power of Intention.
Need to separate from Ego.Move away from Ego dominance. Your free will can either move with universal spirit and its unfolding or away from it toward ego dominance. We do not create anything alone, we are all creatures with God. Our free will combines and redistributes whats already created
1. I am what I have. My possesions define me
1. I am what I do. My achievements define me
3. I am what others think of me. My reputation defines me
4. I am separate from everyone. My body defines me as alone
5. I am separate from all that is missing in my life. My life space is disconnected from my desires
6. I am separate from God. My life depends on God’s assessment of my worthiness

MOLESKIN:
Pray for @Jinxy’s wife who is having surgery
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill Obstacle build- supply pick up at Christmas Lumber on Kingston Pike ~ 3 pm friday and build at HHOR site in Kingston on Saturday starting at 9 am, need able bodies, skil saws, cordless drills and impact drivers. Let Sparkler know if you can come

In His Mansion

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Plank Jacks, 5 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Windmills, Michael Phelps

THA-THANG:

Each man picks up a pair of bricks from my truck.  We then run to parking lot by entrance to Northern Ball Fields.  There will be exercises posted at each corner of the parking lot.  Do the exercise listed, run around the parking lot, then do the next exercise listed.  Always have bricks when running.  Once exercises at one cone are complete, go to the next cone and do those.  When a man is done he will have done 12 exercises (3 from each cone and run around the parking lot 12 times).  Here are the exercises from each cone:

  • Cone 1:  1. 50 Overhead Presses with Bricks  2. 20 Big Boys  3. 50 Curls with Bricks
  • Cone 2:  1. 50 Rows with Bricks  2. 20 Big Boys  3.  50 Wings Up with Bricks
  • Cone 3:  1. 50 Wings Out with Bricks  2. 10 Mini Man-makers 3. 50 Wings Down with Bricks
  • Cone 4.  1. 50 Punches with Bricks.  2. 10 Mini Man-makers  3. 50 Triceps with Bricks

Mosey with bricks back to the truck and replace them there.

Mosey to stop sign at Northeastern corner of admin bldg.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey down steps to small alleyway.  Pick teammate. We will do Doras.  Teammate runs up stairs, around to beginning of alleyway and back to teammate while teammate does exercises.  Teammates the switch off.  Here are the exercises:

  • 150 Squats
  • 150 Big Boy Situps
  • 100 Merkins

Mosey to Parking Lot that semi-circles by soccer fields.  We will Bernie for 20 fence stakes then lunge for 10 tent stakes and repeat that pattern to the end of the parking lot.

Mosey to beginning of mini-cardiac.  Bernie to park sign, then sprint the rest of the way back to the AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 Men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Thomas Merton:  “Creation isn’t something that just happened in the beginning and then God walked off and left us to our own devices.”

Imagine if that were true.  God created this universe and everything in it and then said, “Good luck everybody, I’m going to sleep.”  Would the creator do that?  I don’t think so.

Thomas Merton:  “Creation is going on all the time.  That creation is absolute and perpetual.”

That creation is a gift and a miracle.  It surrounds us and is within us.  Yet, we so often fail to see it.  Some of the great church hymns have God saying to us (or use to Him), “Abide in Me”, knowing that we so often fall short in doing so.

James Finley describes this failure to see God’s gift to us in this way:

What if all along you’ve been living in this incredible mansion all your life but through a tragic mental condition you think you’re living in a little tent behind the garage?  And every week your psychotherapist comes over for your weekly session, and your therapist says, “Look, I wouldn’t, honestly, I wouldn’t lie to you on this one.  You’re in a mansion.  You’ve been living in it all along.”  You say, No.  No.  I . . . as a matter of fact, I don’t even think I deserve to even try to get in there, actually.”  In God, we live and move and have our being.  We’re living our life in the vast interiority of God pouring Himself out and giving himself away as every breath and heartbeat, as every passing moment of our life.  This is confusion.  Jesus called it blindness.  Buddha called it ignorance.  We don’t see the God-given, Godly nature, the boundary-less generosity of every blessed moment in our life.”

To abide in God is to accept his gift, to recognize His beauty, to breath it in what John Eldredge calls “The Sacred Romance.”  Other spiritual writers call it the “Sacred Dance.”  To abide in God is to ask him to abide with us.

I will close with some lines from the song “Abide With Me”:

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of praise for Lillydipper’s wife (done with double masectomy surgery) and Choir Boys’ wife (does not have lymphoma and is getting rehab for the pain she is experiencing); prayers for wife of Mr. Jinxy who will have surgery on September 17; prayers for Lulu and Doubtfire who both have lost their mothers this past month.

Building Bridges

THE SCENE: Stormy, but stayed dry, cloudy, low 80s.
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:

-43 +1 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Hillbilly Squats (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Abe Vigodas (4-ct), in cadence

– Orphan Annies (Hold elbow plank, lift one hand up and do circle motions like washing the floor.  Switch after 30 seconds)

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to end of Dragon’s Tail.

Special ROUTE 66. Combination of Route 66 and 11s. At each light do both exercises, with the total equaling 11.  Exercises: MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS and PETER PARKERS (both are 2-count).

MOSEY to parking lot by baseball fields.

  • CENTURY CLUB
    • Four STATIONS, each with two exercises. Must complete 100 total of the exercises (Must be at least a 75/25 split, but otherwise can be any combination.)  Must complete the 100 before moving to next Station.  After completing the 100, Move to the next station using the method indicated.
      1. STATION 1: CMU Pile
        • Curls/Overhead Press
        • BERNIE SANDERS to Station 2.
      2. STATION 2: PAVILLION
        • Table Pull ups and Dips
        • EL CAPITAN to Station 3.
      3. STATION 3: PLAYGROUND
        • Bench Step Ups and Incline Merkins
        • SPRINT to Station 4.
      4. STATION 4: Parking Lot across from ballfields
        • BEAR CRAWL and LONG JUMPS back and forth
        • Run to BONUS BOX
  • BONUS BOX in the Middle: Rotate doing 25 of the following in the four corners until the 6 catches up:
    1. SSH x 25
    2. Overhead Claps x 25
    3. Imperial Walkers x 25
    4. Standing calf raises x 25

BERNIE up Baby Cardiac 1/2 way, then sprint.  20 American Hammers (4-ct, IC)

Mosey to monument/lookout, 10 Tempo Squats

Mosey to AO.

MARY:

  • Static leg raises. On 6, bend one knee, lift the other leg as high in the air as possible and hold. Switch after 30 seconds.
  • 43 +1 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 Strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

We did Four Score and Seven (i.e., 87) SSH to start and end the work out.  This refers to the opening words of the Gettysburg address, written and delivered by Abraham Lincoln, “FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO TODAY”…  The Gettysburg battlefield has been in the news recently, and it prompted me to revisit the Gettysburg Address.  Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and left over 40000 soldiers dead and wounded. Often seen as one of the turning points in the war, Gettysburg pointed the path to Union victory and full emancipation for enslaved Americans.  One of our favorite (insert eye roll…) exercises here, Pickett’s Charge, is named for a doomed attack on Union Forces at during the Battle of Gettysburg.

After the Battle of Gettysburg, the war turned fully in the Union’s favor, and the Civil War ended soon thereafter.  On November 19 of the same year of the battle, President Lincoln was persuaded to say a few words at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg.  It also essentially served as his re-nomination address for the election of 1864, which was not assured: The country was still in the midst of the Civil War, the Democrats were disgruntled and angry, and even Lincoln’s own party was questioning his re-nomination.  So he agreed to speak “a few appropriate remarks.”

The Gettysburg address is quite short.  It’s only 272 words long.  It wasn’t even the main speech of the day.  Lincoln was a reticent man who was not prone to long-winded speeches.  But it is widely regarded as one of the most sublime and patriotic speeches in our nation’s history, and one of the most influential statements of national purpose ever crafted. Its transcript follows, with some inserted notes:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we [Notice that he never used the first person singular in the speech. He used the first person plural] are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. [Notice that he extols the sacrifices of the soldiers who died, without calling out or casting blame on the Confederates.]

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Important Takeaways:

  • Short and Sweet! It was not a grandiose speech that was all about him.  It was also positive and inspirational. (To quote the musical Hamilton, “Talk Less, Smile More”)
  • This nation was conceived in liberty, and ALL men are created equal
  • Lincoln always uses the first person plural, not singular.  “Now WE are engaged in a great Civil War.”  “It is rather for US to be here, dedicated to the great task remaining before us”.  It was not about Lincoln, what he did, etc.  He also did not further divide the nation by calling out the Confederacy.  We’re all in this together.  The speech served to begin the process of mending bridges and put some salve on the wounds caused by the Civil War.  Lincoln took the high road, and refused to be divisive.

We still have unfinished business as a nation,or “a great task remaining before us”.  We are too quick to divide, to accuse, to attack, too slow to forgive, to compromise, to forget old grievances.  During these days of political divisiveness, it is refreshing and hopeful to look back at the words of a truly great man and President, and seek to return to those values described in the Gettysburg Address.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of gratitude that Lilydipper’s wife, Jan, had successful surgery.  Prayers for Curveball as his family deals with a positive COVID test for one of his daughters. Prayers for Hooker as he ramps up staffing at his office.  Prayers for all involved as schools across the country reopen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None

The Essential Isn’t Imposed

THE SCENE: Misty and humid, temps is 80s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 10 Toes Reaches, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward, 7 Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign at northeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey to perimeter trail and head west.  We will follow the perimeter trail north to the shaded tree by Lyons Bend.  20 American Hammers.

Mosey to Mt. Everest.  We will do 40 Baby Crunches, then run up to large tree, circle around it and return.

Mosey to shaded area by water bldg.  20 Flutter Kicks.

Mosey to North Shore gate and head east on trail.  There will be cones in flat grassy area to the right.  We will divide up men to start at different cones.  We will go counter-clockwise to each cone. The cones will list exercises.  We will do circle the cones three times doing the first exercise listed the first time there and continue in sequence the next time there.  However, before starting into the next sequence of cone exercises we will make a full circle around the cones.  Here are the exercises for each cone:

  • Cone 1:  1. 20 Bobby Hurleys.  2. 20 Smurf Jacks.  3. 20 Star Jumps.
  • Cone 2:  1. 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  2. 20 Squats.  3. 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct)
  • Cone 3:  1. 20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1).  2. 20 Mountain Climbers (both legs = 1).  3. 20 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1)
  • Cone 4:  1. 20 Merkins.  2. 20 Carolina Dry Docks  3.  20 Diamond Merkins

Mosey to beginning of parking lot at Area 51.  We will Bernie Sanders to the curb by the grass, then run back to the starting point of the parking lot, then Bernie Sanders back to the curb again.  Next, at curb we will do 20 Toe Taps (4 ct).  Then we will run to the road up top where there is a shaded tree.  There, we will do 30 Second Leg Lift.

Mosey to bat cave.  From the bat cave we will sprint to the administration parking lot.  Each man walks back to bat cave after the sprint, then sprints to parking lot again.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
20 Hello Dollies, 20 Tempo Merkins.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
20 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Quote from James Finley, a theologian and former monk who studied under Thomas Merton: “That which is essential never imposes itself for love is always offered, it’s never imposed, and that which in unessential is constantly imposing itself.”

God created us in His image.  He made us for communication with Him.  We fall short in life if not with Him.  We are in need of Him.  Without Him we are thirsty.  Without Him there is something wrong in our lives.  His love is Essential.  And, as James Finley says, his love is offered freely to us.  It is not imposed, it is not forced upon us. It comes to us in so many ways: the playfulness of a child, the chance for rest or Sabbath, the words of the Bible, the laughter among friends, intimacy with a partner, the love shared by a neighbor, the smile of a stranger, the songs of the birds, the beauty of the mountains, the plains, the wind, the sky, God’s creation.  Notice how these Essential things hang back, they do not force their will on us, they do not impose themselves.  Notice how we have to truly look, to truly listen, to truly observe in order to appreciate them.  It is like pulling over to the side of the road to really enjoy a sunset.  You sit there in your car and our blown away by the beauty.  And then, after you start the car up and drive on home, you think to yourself, I need to do this more often, I need to truly take this beauty in each day.  It is like when you hear a great song that makes the hair rise on your skin and you think, how beautiful, how powerful, this song makes me want to be more than what I have been.  Or, it is like when you are at worship and hear a particular sermon that makes you almost want to cry and you think, man, I need to remember this, I need to take this into the fiber of my being . . . and, a few days later you kind of forget what the sermon was all about.

A problem we humans face is that, like Finley claims, “the unessential is constantly imposing itself” on us.  What are some of these unessential things?  Wealth, power, fame, success, popularity are examples.  Think about our daily lives.  Think about what the world says we should be.  We are constantly bombarded by shoulds in our lives. “I should do more to rise to the top at work.”  “I should work more hours so that I can make more money.”  “I should get a bigger home.”  “I should get a nicer car.”  “I need to participate in more organizations so that I am doing more with my life.”  “I gotta make that deadline.” “I should be slimmer and more fit.”  “I should spend more of my time working for charities so that people see how much I am giving to others.”  “I need to be the top salesman in my region this year”.  “I need to belong to that country club because it is populated by some of the most notable people in Knoxville.”  I am not saying that any of the above things are unworthy.  But, they are unessential.  These shoulds are often what we pay the most attention to.  And by doing that, we lose sight of God’s creation, God’s love.  We miss out on what God has made essential for us.

Lord, help us to spend more time focusing on the essential.  You have given these essential things to us because you love us.  You don’t impose them on us.  You give us free will to accept them because you know that true love cannot be forced upon us.  Help take our eyes away from what is unessential and keep our eyes on you.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Prayers for Title -9 as he adjusts to living in Oregon, for Lily’s wife who will have double mastectomy surgery on Wednesday, Augut 19, for Thunderstruck’s mother as she faces chemotherapy and blood transfusions, for safety of the F3 dads and kids at camp this weekend, for the AO in Morristown that we helped start.  Steam will be going to the Morristown AO workout to support them this Saturday and welcomes anyone who would like to go with him.