Rants for the Weekend

Ok, I got irritated by two things on Thursday. Perhaps you agree, perhaps not, but here's my take...

If I see or hear one more story on the national news about poor college kids and how the economy is causing them so much angst and distress, I'm going to swear off the national news outlets for at least a day.

In the story that sent me over the edge, a young lady being high lighted in the piece made the following comment (I'm paraphrasing);
"Why should I have to transfer to a different school? The kids who's families have the money to pay aren't having to transfer."

Ummm, ok, didn't you just answer your own question? You need to transfer because you can not afford to attend that school. Tough. Get over it.


My parents, then my wife(first time around) and I paid for my education and for her's out of our pockets. At the time, financial aid was limited, and despite my dad's lower middle class salary, the feds said his, along with my part time job's, income made us too "rich" to get aid. So I attended an extension campus of IU where we could afford the tuition and made the most of the education opportunities available to me.

Why should she or anyone else be any different? Oh and then there was her closing comment (again, I'm paraphrasing);
"At my age, I should be worried about other things, not worrying about how I'm going to pay for college."

Gee, whiz, at my age, I should be financially set and without a care, not travelling 3+ days per week to put food on the table, watching what we spend, worrying about medical exams I thought were reserved for "old" guys, ad nauseum, ad nauseum...

Later in the day, I'd be fired up by the head of one of my denomination's seminary presidents who has a local radio show on the Christian station my wife and I listen to at times.

Dr. Albert Mohler was up on his soap box ranting about pornography in this country. Ok, I have no problem with that, except the fact that when individuals like Mohler, who are viewed by Christians and non-Christians alike as being representative of believers as a whole (a scary thought as far as I'm concerned) spend such a large amount of their time placing themselves in the public eye to promote or denounce social and political issues and agendas, it injures the testimony of Christians as a whole.

Would Mohler, or any other theologian help this simple lay person, who considers himself fairly conservative in his interpretation and understanding of scripture, to locate in scripture where we are called to concentrate such a vast amount of energy and resources on government policies and agendas. Did Christ? Did Paul?

If we want to change the culture of America, to stop what Mohler refers to in his blog as the "Pornification of a Culture", we can not and should not do it through the political system, but rather through the spreading of the gospel and the subsequent "changing of America's heart" through the love of Christ.

The efforts of Mohler and his peers helps solidify for many the notion that the message Christianity is one of exclusion, hate, and "do's and dont's". Their actions do little if anything to share the Love of Christ to a dying world. I would venture that the issues that pervade our societies today are little different than those evident in Christ's time. Perhaps the vehicles for their spread were different, and perhaps they were less pervasive, but who knows. I wasn't there, but I'd bet Dr. Mohler had a contemporary in that century who was just as confident that the world was falling further and further into the mires of sin. Well, yeah, but our calling is to save the world one soul at a time, not to initiate social change.

In closing let me offer this observation from my recent work trip to New Orleans.

While in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, I ventured to Bourbon Street to take in the revelry of Mardi Gras. Amidst the drunkeness, obscenity, nudity, and vulgarity there were Christians attempting to witness. Two distinct efforts were underway.

Effort number one involved the holding of signs cataloging various sinful activity and the preaching of condemnation with a bull horn. The response I saw to these efforts ranged from vulgar insults, pulling and tugging of the signs as people passed, to a bull horn toting antagonist that drowned out any attempt to communicate to the crowd with a repetitive, "Stop the Hate, Stop the Hate!..." or literally, "Blah, Blah, Blah!...Blah! Blah!..."

Effort number two was undertaken by a group that formed a single file line that didn't block the flow of pedestrian traffic, held up signs proclaiming Christ's love, and quietly passing out pamphlets. I saw no one harass these folks and I saw people politely take the pamphlets that were offered, some of which were not immediately discarded on the ground.

My hat's off to both groups for undertaking witnessing in such a harsh environment, but "Which do you think was the most effective?" Which do you think best demonstrated a message of Love? I have my opinion.

Anyway, that's my two cents, and thankfully it's worth as much as anybody else's.

Dirty Pictures from Mardi Gras!

Here's the side of Mardi Gras most folks don't see!
Here's what it looks like when our crew and the other crews are done each night! Ready for another day or night of parades...

And then...start all over again...

And if you want to see something really raunchy!

But then....

Yawwwwnnnnnn!

Ok,

As mentioned before, I'm in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Doesn't look like I'll be doing much on the blog this weekend either.

I've gotten a total of about 13 hours of sleep in the last 3 days, and tonight is the biggest of all the parades, as well as the longest route through our zone of responsibility. Oh yeah, and tomorrow, I still have to outstanding items for work to wrap up.

Hangin' on to good eating habits is a challenge, mainly just getting enough of the "right" calories, and not getting caught up in shoving anything down my throat. So far, I'm making it, well except for the king cake last night.

Sooo...I've managed to log two treadmill runs and two lifting sessions since getting here. I started lifting heavier about 2 weeks ago and have begun to see more results. The running has moved away from race inspired and become more my cardio routine.

Looks like a long run on the road is setting up for next Saturday. I'm planning to run the Papa John's Ten Miler and then the KDF Mini. So I've got to get some road time in at some point.

Well got to go, I'm going to hit a couple sets on the bench press before heading in to the office to start staging for tonight.

Still Hangin' Out...Mardi Gras Style.

I thought I would be posting by now, but things haven't quite fallen into place. Still hectic pace at work and currently in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. No, I'm not partying, I'm cleaning up afterward each day in our assigned areas of the downtown. By day, I mean each night, well...then into the next day.

Maybe this weekend I want have my normal work load on top of duties here and will take a moment to update my blog look, my running #'s (currently on a piece of paper in my pocket), and share a relevant or irrelevant thought.

In closing...A-Rod is taking a beating for his steroid use, and yes I'm disappointed, but for anyone who wants to criticize him for failing to be a positive role model....

"Do you measure up each and everytime you're in a spot to leave a lasting impression on a child, on a stranger, on a lost person?"

Honestly, I make A-Rod look pretty good!

Now, back to the grind.

A Follow Up to My "Last" Post

As I mulled my decision to stop blogging on the flight out this morning, I began to consider what writing this blog meant and what it had become.

In some ways it became a chance to share my thoughts and ideas, to carry on a conversation, albeit one sided (I guess that would make it a monologue) and often times replaced the conversations that my travel prevents me from having with friends and family.

The more I think about writing, not that I consider myself a writer, I realize that everyone who writes, does so for themselves. Some to share thoughts and ideas, some to gain fame and fortune, but ultimately they draw something from it.

At this point in time my life seems to have grown rather hectic. Personal and professional pressure, responsibilities, and demands on my time have impacted how I spend my time, how I workout, and what my fitness goals are. So also have my thoughts and ideas have changed to reflect where I'm at today. While the topics I originally wrote and tried to continue to write about are still important to me, there are also thoughts, opinions, ideas, questions, and rants that I want to share, but, this blog, with its original intent and purpose does not present the proper venue for those topics. (No I'm not talking graphic OLS stories).

Going back a paragraph to my comment about writing for yourself, I need to do that. I need to write about the things that capture my attention and mindset on any given day. So I will return to blogging in the days ahead, but will do so with a different format. On Running Saved I've tried to avoid discussing some issues, feeling they were not appropriate given the intent of the blog, yet those issues would dominate my thought process looking for an outlet. So I'm going to either create a new look and format for this blog, or create another and start fresh. Either way, I will return, ultimately because I need the outlet. I hope you'll continue to stop by to read my ramblings, feeling free to challenge me when you disagree, or chiming in when you agree.

Thanks

James

Shutting Down!

For some time now I have found it difficult to make the time to post on this blog.

Rare is the time I spend on a computer anymore that isn't work related. Even posting my workouts to my online log can seem a daunting task and one I'm considering eliminating.

So I'm signing off for now. I'm going to leave the site active for now, and should things change, perhaps return to posting, but for now, it has become a victim of changing work responsibilities and priorities overall.

I will still continue to visit the blogs that belong to my friends, whether they be from the real world or the web world.

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read. I hope at times I've drawn a laugh, whether intentional or not. I hope I've motivated some to think, to live, to work out, and perhaps to draw closer to God.

If I've failed that, at least I had a good time. Take Care, keep running, cycling, lifting, living, and praying.

James

I want(ed) to run...Part 2

Ok,

My reward for coming home:

1. 
   Jordan awoke at about 12:30 A.M., wide awake, ready to watch the end of Speed Racer when he realized I was watching it. So a blanket, the couch and him on my chest is how I ended watching the movie..perfect.
2. 
   Then after putting him down, and before I could get in bed, Jaden wakes up. His pull-up had leaked and his bed was soaked. He wanted me to change put on his new pull up and then, since I was too lazy to do a middle of the night bed linen swap, he got into bed with Jordan and with a smile, drifted off to sleep...excellent.
3. 
   Sometime in the night Jared crawled in bed with us. While I often get annoyed with the loss of space, after being on the road, I tend not to be quite as agitated and couldn't help but smile seeing him there when I awoke this morning.
   
   Sooooo. The race would have been nice, the medal added to the shadow box on the den wall, but what I've got to show for not staying, will last me a lifetime. Memories.
   
   Parenting is so great...hold on a second.....
   
   "Jared, put that down!" "Jordan, quit hitting him!" "Jaden do you want to get sent to your room too?!"
   
   ....now where was I....