Ah, the scourge of college athletes nationwide, a villain that finds new victims every day and re-infects old ones at the first sign of weakness. But what solution, nay what superheroic cure, could there possibly be to match up with such a formidable foe? There is the initial and appealing option of quitting, if the sport has caused the injury perhaps withdrawing from the sport will cure it? No. In fact, this is a terrible option, your will never get your body in to proper shape without more work. Inevitably, the decision to quit because of injury is a decision not to take care of your body.

Physical therapy might be a good option, following the trainer's instructions, trying to stay in shape, and healing your body by whatever means prescribed; it has to be fail-proof. Guess again. Trainers do their best, but in the case of athlete's like myself, we can beat ourselves up just as well on a treadmill, bike, or in a weight room. I even managed to re-injure myself one time doing back stretches. Every trainer is neither equally knowledgeable nor equally gifted. But mainly what i want to leave you with is this: those recurring injuries can improve, all you have to do is slowly get yourself into shape: don't try, train. And a quick p.s. that i learned the hard way: running isn't supposed to hurt.

I know the title is presumptuous, but i don't intend to redefine the truth or initiate a conversation on the errors of postmodernism or call for steps backwards to modernism (like too many evangelicals). On the contrary, i had an epiphany, and i thought someone might care, or find it interesting; i have heard that my blogs are worth reading.

As i sat reading 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, i stumbled onto something inspiring. Usually, i would skip straight to verse 4, where we find a list of the attributes of godly love- love is patient, love is kind, etc... But this time i just started reading. Then i went back and looked at the end of chapter 12, and i thought about what it meant for Paul to say the things he said in v. 1-3. Paul was a really groundbreaking thinker/author/world-changer/radical. I'll give you the passage in the NIV right herrr

13:1 1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

In the chapter before this he is giving very detailed teaching about spiritual gifts and, it seems to me, trying to make things as clear as possible for the Corinthian church, so that they could get their problems straightened out (he talks about their problems, too). But after he makes his case and explains things in a simple and straightforward way, there is the major transition into chapter 13. By the end of ch. 12, it's like he gives up, like he realizes this is never going to cut it, and he says; "I will show you a still more excellent way." And what follows is the excerpt above. When i read this, and what follows in the text, i was in awe of the truth behind Paul's statements. He basically said this, "if i was the greatest man on earth, with nothing to stand in my way, and if i was willing to give up everything, it still wouldn't mean anything, if i didn't have love.

And, here is where my title comes in- the ancient truth of love. There have been plenty of books written on it and plenty of cynics who don't understand it but regardless of what's popular or what lie the devil is trying to sell us, love stays the same. And love stays in the forefront of what matters most to us and God alike. Love is the afterthought that resonates. When you come to your whit's end, love is the only thing that makes sense.

We've got it twisted.
We're not animals, and we're not angels, either.
Secular people act one way, religious people act the other way,
Both ways are a lie.
According to Genesis(1), Angels and Animals were created before man. And God's creation was entrusted to man.
We're human, God created us physical beings and breathed life into us.
We're like spiritual animals.
God gave us the world.
That's another thing we've got twisted. Why do people say "how could God let that happen?"
We can't blame God for the state that the world is in, that is ridiculous. He didn't make us do anything. We are responsible for the state of the world, and for the future of the world. And that was just how God intended it to be in the first place. Don't lose hope, we are headed forward, and inevitably, that is the right direction. If you believe..

It's not either science or religion, it's both.
A scientist who knows about atoms and quarks and string theory, and especially quantum physics, and basically, every interesting fact and theory that we know, or think we might know about the big and small things of the universe and the 11 to 13 dimensions, and a scientist who is honest, will tell you they haven't the foggiest idea of why or how things work. It seems it's beyond us. The most recent and interesting "string theory" cannot be further tested. It is "safe"; there is no way to prove or disprove it. It is true that there is much mind boggling information out there, but it does nothing to explain our existence or purpose. It knows nothing of love. Science is amazing and interesting and full of impressive details, but in spite of all that, it can't teach you how to live a fulfilling life. It can't give you any "answers".

God knows i'm screwed up. I know he loves me anyway. That kind of knowledge is powerful.