Maintenance for the Good Life

 

Runners Need to Lift Weights for Long Term Consistency

There are no races on my horizon, even though the Oklahoma City Memorial is only a month away. I’m not going to sign up this year. Maybe it’s lazy of me, but I’m looking forward to dropping back to shorter Saturday runs with the weather starting to heat up. Last Saturday morning, the temperature climbed into the 70’s before I finished my 17 miles. Needless to say, I fell apart at around 14 miles and managed to jog lightly to about 15. The last 2 miles were spent walking slowly and stopping to let my heart rate come down.

As embarrassing as it was to flame out like that, it was unseasonably warm and I didn’t have enough salt in my body. Next time I won’t make that mistake.

The good news is that I’m content to make jogging a regular part of my life instead of just going hard for a month. That’s the equivalent of cramming for a midterm literature test by staying up all night. You might have a great race, but you won’t realize long term gains. The consistency of weekly jogging is what I’ve always been after. I’d like to do a marathon again at some point. For now, the idea of a big race sounds like more effort than I’m ready to give. As far as regular jogging goes it’s been quite consistent. I looked at my Garmin records from last year to get a yearly average. Last year I did roughly 50 miles more than this year. That works out to an extra 2 weeks, but it’s very close. I think the culprit, this year, was my long vacation and Christmas and subsequent illness afterward.

The year to year consistency is what I’m going for. I want to be fit more than I want to crush a time standard and set personal records. That’s the legacy I’ve started at least. Even if it’s frustrating to fall short of my marathon goals, they’re less important. This season I’m learning how to deal with nagging injuries and still be a productive runner. My knees give me trouble on occasion, so I’m spending more time warming up and stretching. A lot of this is what everyone does when they get older. We start paying attention to the little things, isometric work, foam rolling and even weights.  

Till recently, that’s meant doing some version of squats and lunges or quad raises. Mostly I just put a program together on the fly and spend about 45 minutes at the gym. Last Sunday I actually did a little research and found a plan to implement. I’ll try this for a month and see if any of my nagging injuries go away. It’s difficult to know what’s best for strength training. There are as many trainers and philosophies on lifting weights as there are gyms in the US. But you have to start somewhere. Any training is better than no training. I’ve spent enough time lifting to have a good foundation. Because I’ve had trouble with my knees I’m careful with certain movements that require a lot of extension.

The program I found on Youtube requires a lot of single leg movements. That’s something I haven’t done much of. The logic makes sense, running demands power from each leg separately and not together. I just never thought to do each movement separately. This program also demands 2 heavy lifts. I guess it surprised me a little. I think of heavy weights as something for football players and gym rats looking to max once a week. But in small doses it’s ideal for running. Who knew? I’ll have to go easy on the squats though. They’re very hard on knees if your form is even a little off.  

There are other ways to get in shape, but none are quite as simple and enjoyable as jogging. It requires you to adjust to the weather and buy a pair of shoes. The maintenance is up to you.

The Volunteer Military and a Lack of Accountability

 

Compulsory Service and a 'United' Country

I’ve had Iran on my mind for the last few weeks. I didn’t think Operation Epic Fury was a good idea, but naturally I want the best outcome for the country. When it comes to war, the best way to ensure our leaders make wise decisions is to raise the stakes. We’ve had a volunteer force for too long. Too few people are connected, through a son or daughter, with loss. The conflict is far away, it affects others. Gasoline has ticked up because of the lack of shipping through the straits of Hormuz. That’s as much as we’ve felt here at home. There needs to be some skin in the game where wars are concerned, or we’ll surely have more of them. The less connection there is between the servicemen and women and the people who live here, the less it feels like a real thing. The US needs to institute compulsory service for every citizen and get back control over the military.

Efficiency and Access

Problems should be fixed in the quickest way possible. Layers add difficulty. In the federal government we call these layers red tape or bureaucracy. In the private sector it’s conglomerates. I’m not talking about efficiency only, but accessibility as well. If you need to update a driver’s license in a state you’ve recently moved, you’ll have to fill out a handful of forms. Make sure you’ve got 3 forms of ID and a recent water bill. God help you if you miss anything.

In the private sector the problems look a little different. If you rent an apartment in the city and need to complain about the air conditioner that doesn’t get cold, who do you complain to? If the property is owned on site, it’s easy. March up to the office, with a disgusted look on your face, and demand to speak to the manager.

 But what if it’s an out of state company? You can send an email and hope for the best. But even then, they’ll likely reply to your complaint with something dismissive like “We own, but don’t manage Crappy Living Inc”. You’ll have to find out who manages the company and send them an email. They’ll likely reply with “We sold off management of Crappy Living Inc to another management company out of New York called Crappier Living Inc. No email is available either. You do a little searching and find a phone number for Crappier Living Inc and decide to call. It’s an automated answering service and doesn’t have an option for complaints.

At what point do you finally give up and buy a box fan?

The lack of connection from owner to renter is a feature and not a bug. The accountability is to the shareholders of these conglomerates, and not the lowly renter. The more you scale up the worse it gets for you. It’s why the service industry is mostly terrible nowadays. Local businesses can be terrible too, but the impact of a bad review is felt immediately on their bottom line. They can’t afford to alienate their people who live in the same community they serve. The line between customer and owner is direct.

America’s Military

How does this relate to the military? America is a big country with a lot of interests and cultures doing their best to find commonality. Taxes and weather can’t be the only points of commonality. Military service should be compulsory for at least 2 years for everyone coming out of high school. When we object to foreign conflicts, we’re basically sending off a worthless email to be ignored. We have no real objection because we have a volunteer army. Technically we have a Selective Service that works like a backstop. That last time we used it was in 1972 for the Vietnam War. But a draft is a last resort. A better option is to have regular training for 2 years and avoid having to use a draft.

There is this idea on the Right that having a volunteer army means having a professional army. Because they want to be there, the thinking goes, their performance is high level. This is just ridiculous. We didn’t have much of an Army to speak of before World War II and still raised an amazing, highly proficient force. It’s called training. You can train most kids for combat. Some jobs are technical and some are physical, but everyone should have a place. It’s the connection that unites us together. The more the citizens of a country hold in common the easier it is to hold off threats to the homeland. Without that sense of duty to a place and a people, the further apart we grow in interests and philosophies.

As a side benefit, we’d have fewer wars. Americans would demand a serious rationale from their government before sending their kids off to a foreign country, the equivalent of stomping off to see the manager with a disgusted look on your face. A military that’s 4 times larger would guarantee a closer link between citizens and their government. Greater involvement means greater control.

Conclusion

 We use our military now like a mercenary force. They’re sent to countless Mid East countries, like Syria, that we aren’t even at war with. Parents with kids in the military today share too much of the burden of the loss. But the fix isn’t to just have a draft and bring in more kids. It’s to have a Pentagon (and leadership) that’s accountable to the citizens of the country for the well-being of the next generation. Having a volunteer force means the Pentagon can continue to send troops across the globe without a lot of objections from families. Their kids volunteered after all. Compulsory service encourages shared sacrifice across the country and is an effective brake on endless conflicts. You want fewer wars, demand compulsory service.

 

The Iran War is a Mistake

 

Get Out of Iran As Quickly As Possible

Despite the many good reasons for war with Iran, the wiser path is to squeeze them financially and let the Iranian people decide to overthrow the clerics. If the people of Iran won't overthrow their own cruel leaders then neither should we.  

Being against a war your country is engaged in requires a thorough explanation. Although the burden of proof should be on the ones prosecuting the war, it’s usually on the one’s opposing it. The Trump administration hasn’t considered the numerous chances for disaster if the Mullahs dig in. China could get involved and make this a very big war, Iranian leaders might hunker down and refuse a deal. Ground troops will be necessary if the US wants any influence over the new government. The US might not have enough munitions to go the full 4-6 week timeline that Karolin Leavitt (White House spokesman) mentioned.  

Why are we embroiled in another Mid East war?

 Last summer it was all about Iran’s nuclear ambition. What is it this time? I’m not one for beating up on team Trump for optics, but this is war. The one thing the American people deserve is a consistent answer on another Middle East war. Don’t tell us that’s Iran is close to getting another bomb either. Last summer we “Totally obliterated” the nuclear facility at Fordow. Those were the President’s words as he assured us it would be a while before Tehran could even think about rebuilding.

And now we have to go back, 9 months later, because they’re still a threat? I don’t think so.

Iran is the enemy of our allies in the Mid East, of whom there are quite a few now. Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq: some of them are allies because they’re aligned with Saudi Arabia or because they signed the Abraham Accords.

Why now and not last summer?

The most recent protests in Iran by the people began in the Bazaar with the merchants. Money was stretched thin and prices went up, making life difficult. Those strikes led to larger protests. The Islamic government cracked down hard. It’s difficult to know exactly how many were killed, but it’s in the thousands. Many more were beaten and jailed. The situation on the ground looked desperate for the regime. Their nuclear ambitions were set way back. Their desperate people were fighting back and trying to take over. The US government led by the War Department, thought this was the best time to make a move and topple the Jenga tower that is the Iranian regime.

That’s the real reason. Opportunity in the form of protests, knocked.

But Iran only looks one way from the outside. This is an existential fight for them and they’re in a corner. They took a serious beating last year from Israel in the 12 Day War. Not to mention all of their proxies were decimated, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. But it’s still not likely they just raise their hands and surrender to the Great Satan. After the first wave of ballistic missile strikes from American and Israeli jets, they’ve hunkered down. The Islamic Republic is ready to defend their turf from a ground invasion, said their Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. This might be tough talk and chest thumping. I think it’s more in keeping with their obstinate behavior.  

Does this have anything to do with China?

Yes I think it does. If you know anything about Trump, it’s that he understands the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to be the biggest threat to the US. One way to take out your enemy is to hit their resources. China relies on oil from both Iran and Venezuela, both by evading US sanctions. We know what happened to Venezuela. They lost their president and their source of income in a matter of days. Trump wants to treat Iran the same way and cut China off from whatever resources Iran can sell them. This isolates China just enough and forces economic tightening in the country. Ironically, this is also the thing that potentially brings the CCP into the conflict. Once you start cutting off opportunities for growth and survival the only thing left is war.

None of this is to excuse China’s behavior in the South China Sea, or their economic warfare against American industries and their spying on American businesses. In the first few months of Trump’s second term, he forced Panama to make a deal with the US for use of the canal. And by extension, Panama kicked China out. Most of Trump’s big moves are designed to roll back the influence of Beijing.

Aren’t there good reasons for this War?

Yes, especially if settling old scores matters. Iran has been a Hydra for terrorism around the world since the revolution of 1979. Victor Davis Hanson said on his Signal YouTube channel that they’ve killed more Americans than any other country, since before the Iran/Iraq war. We lost 241 marines in Lebanon to a truck bomb outside their barracks. After we ousted Saddam from Iraq, Iran helped supply the Shia militias with weapons, IEDs and training. They stormed the embassy in Tehran, during the revolution, and held American hostages for over a year. Yes, we owe them.

Not to mention, the reasons I mentioned regarding China and their belligerence toward American hegemony. But in this case the risks outweigh the rewards. If we wanted revenge on Iran for the marines, we should’ve taken it years ago. This is going back 40 plus years. So that’s not a legitimate reason for a full scale war.

Why I’m against this war 

Our missile supplies are low. The US military is low on munitions thanks to our support of Ukraine to fight Russia. We’ve sent a lot of our ballistic weapons to keep a war going that no one seems to care about. But even if we had an inexhaustible pile to light up sky with, you can’t know what’s happening on the ground. You’ll need to send in ground troops at some point.

For all the talk about not using ground troops, I don’t believe we’ll get out of there without committing troops. Part of the goal is to get a leader that can make a deal with Israel and the US, not to use terrorism against them. This is where it gets messy, changing regimes and sliding in someone you prefer rarely works out. I don’t trust that these protesters in Iran are actually on our side. I bought this nonsense about peoples yearning-to-be-free during the Iraq war. I’m not falling for the everyone deserves democracy anymore. No should be a slave in their own country and it’s tragic how they’ve been treated by the theocracy.

But at some point, peoples have to cast off their oppressors. If they constantly need help from outside armies, I’d say they aren’t ready yet. This current crop of Iranian people are the children of the ones who chose an Islamic Republic over a secular one. If they want to go back to a secular republic, let them. Just don’t help them.   

Conclusion

I think we can still make this a quick war by declaring victory soon. Trump wants unconditional surrender and defines it as, the regime not having enough military capability to threaten their people or neighbors. That’s not really surrender in the classic sense but it’s close enough. But the issue with these open-ended wars is the increasing responsibilities that get pulled in. The mission grows and metastasizes into a tumor that makes us all sick. Then it’s a muddle for years because no one knows how to do the surgery.

Trump famously likes to “Win”. That can be a good thing here if he’s ready to call anything Iran gives him a win. It might not be enough for the Department of War, or the CIA or the ‘conflict bros’ (Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton). But it’s a lot better than another 20 year war where we sacrifice American lives and get nothing in return.

Let’s not do that here.

I hope I’m wrong on this war and the benefits win out. But the last 2 decades do not give me hope.  

 

 

 

 

Fasting and Prayer

 

Fasting is Connected to Belief in the Greater Works of Gods

I started doing a fast every Monday just recently. Fasting is a Christian discipline connected to prayer and hearing from God. Going without food for a day makes you reorder your priorities. It’s a reminder to my flesh that God is in control of my life and He takes first place. I’m not sure what the ideal amount of time is for a fast. The early churches don’t have a specific recommendation either, but it’s a practice they’re well familiar with. I heard a Youtuber say that “fasting is being empty so God can fill us.”

Instructions

I’m reluctant to even write this. Fasting isn’t something you go around and brag about, as if you’re doing something noble. We should do it in secret and our “Father in heaven will reward…” us. This was Jesus’ admonition to his disciples. Mostly I can get away with fasting in secret. I’ve had a few occasions where I couldn’t keep it quiet. Last year I had a lunch meeting with a few coaches from a local youth football group. This was holy week. I’d decided to fast lunch for 6 days.

We met at Clark’s Crew BBQ for a spread. I tried to get out of the lunch altogether with “Are you sure I need to be there?” questions. My boss had set up the meeting because he knew the coaches and they wanted to do business with us. I had to tread lightly here. This was going to be my account. I made a nice chunk of money off this group. Sitting there and pretending to be full while everyone else stuffed pulled pork into their mouth was going to be difficult. I finally just leveled with my boss and told him about Easter and how I’d made a decision to fast lunch for the week. He told me to order the lunch food to go and have it for dinner later. That was a great idea I hadn’t considered. But I still had to tell the guys at the table I wasn’t eating because of Easter. I had their sympathy.

Costs

The year before, a similar situation occurred. This time my employer catered a full spread for everyone at work. I can’t remember the occasion for the spread, but I had to tell one guy I wasn’t eating lunch for holy week. I have a reputation for eating a lot. It’s been a running joke around the office whenever anyone brings cake or donuts to share. “Make sure you count how many Adam takes” are how the comments typically go. I can’t blame anyone but myself of course. I keep in shape so it’s not a big deal. If I was overweight it would bother me. Needless to say when I don’t eat, people notice. Getting used to having free food offered to me during Easter week, or on my Monday fast day is becoming the new normal.

But I’m learning to press through in prayer when the hunger becomes intense.

In Matthew 17:20-21 the disciples try to cast out a demon from a young boy. They’re unable to do it. Jesus steps in and frees the boy. The disciples ask Jesus why they couldn’t cast it out. He tells them because of their unbelief. “For assuredly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” 

Scales

Some of the commentary I’ve heard on this passage says that Jesus was talking about “unbelief” as the kind that doesn’t come out except by prayer and fasting. But I’ve always read that as, the demon is the kind that doesn’t go out except by prayer and fasting. As in, this is a high-level super demon and takes a truly devout person to stand up to it. This is probably wrong.

 I tend to think that unbelief is the theme. Faith is the opposite of unbelief. You can’t trust in a God that you only consult once in a while. There are levels to petition prayers. “Lord give me favor with my boss” is a prayer, but so is “Demon be gone”.

The way we’re wired to think about faith is through scales, as in 1 through 10. Low level faith would be believing for favor with the boss. High level faith would be casting out demons, certainly a 10. Maybe because the stakes are lower at work it rates low in our head. What does favor with the boss look like exactly? How is it different from regular treatment? It’s not always clear. Casting out a demon is definitive and the stakes are very high. No one doubts when it happens. But just because our minds work that way doesn’t mean the kingdom of God operates on a 1 through 10 scale.

Conclusion

Jesus is saying, prayer and fasting are the key to getting rid of unbelief for every kind of situation. When faith is like a mustard seed, its roots go deep and it pushes out unbelief. When faith is strong it doesn’t ask about scale or stakes. It doesn’t frame needs that way. It recognizes Jesus as the source of truth. It finds victory in the One who was victorious. You might say that prayer and fasting reorder our focus back to Christ. From that reordering we’re able to find faith when we need it, no matter the situation. The more we fast, the stronger our belief becomes.  

 

 

The Olympic Games and the Super Bowl: The Occult Reigns

Alternatives Like TPUSA's Halftime Show Are the Way Forward

I’ve been watching the Olympics for the last few weeks. It’s in Italy this year, Milan and Cortina. Not only at home but also at work, I’ll find the Peacock channel and let it play. I don’t watch every event, but I catch enough of it to say I’ve seen a lot this year. Not everyone gets to watch TV. Lucky me I guess.

During the opening ceremony the athletes lit a pentagram while fireworks that resembled flames illuminated the background. Flames and torches and ceremonies are part of the Olympics, why did this one feel occultic? Probably because everything in the public eye is anti Christian, overtly so. I can’t tell you where the particular ceremony originates (historically) or what deities they glorify. But nearly all of these world or international events display some form of paganism.

These ‘artistic’ displays are either pagan or just outright satanic. The Super Bowl halftime shows are all slutty performance theater and ominous ritual. They’ve all taken on a darker quality than I can remember. Not that rock and roll from the 80s and 90s was moral, but the veil that used to hide that sinful nature is gone. Even Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance from a few years ago was all red and black. A lot of this imagery feels uncomfortable to me. I can’t always pinpoint why.

For years I brushed off suggestions that these public venues were loaded with satanic imagery. But it’s getting harder to ignore. I can’t tell you what every symbol or dance number means in an artistic sense, but I know a pentagram when I see one. Last year’s summer games in Paris showed a mock version of the Last Supper with drag queens. The excuses always ring hollow. They always follow the same trajectory “You rubes don’t understand the blend of the ancient and the modern, or the sacred and the profane”. It’s art you see? But it’s always Jesus and Christianity that’s mocked. Or in the case of the NFL, traditional values.

This year I had a choice to watch a different halftime show for the Super Bowl. Thanks to Turning Point USA, millions of fans tuned into Kid Rock and handful of country artists for a free show. Like a lot of Americans during the Super Bowl, I was at a party with friends. We shut off the game at the halfway point and put YouTube on. None of us were huge Kid Rock fans, but having an alternative that wasn’t divisive was a breath of fresh air. Kid Rock, for his part, has been talking about Jesus to anyone who will listen the last few years. I assume he’s genuine. I can’t say whether or not his opinions and beliefs are orthodox. But he is shining a light where others are shrouded in darkness. Hopefully Turning Point does this every year. I imagine a lot of artists who don’t get to play the Super Bowl would sign up to play even one song.

Who doesn’t want millions of people to hear their music? I’m sure there is a stigma associated with playing exclusively to a patriotic audience. But those numbers don’t lie. As an up and coming artist, how many fans could potentially buy your music after a 5-minute performance? Besides, if this becomes a regular feature of Super Bowls going forward it will garner bigger names every year. The most important thing is that Christians, and citizens who are just bothered by the anti-American shade of the NFL, have another option. This is the way forward in a lot of national and international events.

 Turning off the TV is always an option too. I did this for a while with baseball and football. Their support of Black Lives Matter and the chaos in Minneapolis during Covid really got to me. But I love sports. Americans would like to have sports and entertainment without all the Satan worship. That probably sounds like hyperbole, but it’s becoming more overt international programing. Sam Smith performed a very evil concert at the Grammys in 2023. How can anyone honestly say that it wasn’t a demonic display? I’m not even going to link to it. Google it if you want to see it.

As for the Olympics, it’s best to just avoid the opening ceremony right now. It’s a shame too because I love seeing all the athletes walk together under their country’s flag. Christians have a reputation as being prudish about immorality and offense content. Every time some raunchy live event happens we get trampled with articles about “satanic panic”. Fact checkers get going, correcting ‘false’ posts about artists. One fact check in particular caught my attention. The Weeknd apparently flashed the word “Satan” on screen at a concert in Denmark. The fact checker was frustrated that online users got the venue wrong. Got that? It wasn’t that artist The Weeknd didn’t flash the word “Satan” at a recent concert, but the time and place were not correct. Unbelievable.

Alternatives are the way forward. Don’t like the artist at halftime, how about another option? The further these sports get from their mission of putting watchable games on TV the worse everyone is. Stay away from preachy messaging and occult laden shows. This isn’t just a grumpy NFL fan talking either. That Kid Rock show pulled in over 6 million views just on YouTube. If nothing else it proves that others would like an alternative. Keep them coming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creativity and Critical Thinking: Read and Write

 

Turn off the TV and Read a Book, Or Write an Essay

I unplugged my Roku device the other day and took it to work. Not so that I could plug it in at work, but so that I couldn’t watch it at home for a while. Work is just a holding spot. I’ll get it back when I think I’ve earned it. I needed to cut out distractions and streaming shows have made me a bit lazy. I’m writing less. I’m reading less. I’m studying for this new work assignment less. Time is slipping through my fingers and despite my awareness of it, laziness can still get the best of me. Not that I sit and stare at the screen while episode after episode loads automatically. But my laziness has been enough to force a change. Even if just on the margins, I can increase my creativity just a bit.

Fortunately I’ve started reading and writing more, both are precursors to higher level thinking. This is a new year after all. I need to get back to reading traditional books again. News websites form the bulk of my reading for most of the week. But books aren’t quite as depressing as the daily news, which is often designed to give you the most horrific stories. Elon Musk said that the news tries to answer the question, “What’s the worst thing that happened in the world today?” So less is more where that’s concerned. This is often tougher than it sounds if you’re like me and suffer from a kind of current events FOMO.

An honest question to ask, why should reading some mindless book count for more than watching TV? How can one consider hours of true crime novels to be of higher worth than hours of Court TV? Instinctively I’d say it comes from a more creative part of your brain. Reading forces you to create mental pictures and your comprehension and focus lock in. This is more or less the view of social media. I did some quick, unscientific, research from Quora and Reddit. Both are good for getting a sense of what people think, the equivalent of polling the audience from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? TV is passive while reading is active. That’s not to say you can’t learn anything watching a show, but you can also zone out and refuse to connect dots.

Reading forces you to pay attention and create your own world. The author will describe much of it, but your mind will fill in the details. Writing takes reading and supercharges it. The world creation that your mind does automatically when absorbing words is only the first step. World creation doesn’t just mean fantasy kingdoms like ‘middle earth’ either. It means the world you present to the reader. If you write fiction you have to write a character that makes sense. I just finished reading John Grisham’s “The Widow”. His description of the title character is needy, forgetful and desperate to be seen as wealthy by those around her. It’s the world according to Grisham in this small Virginia town. He’s really good at bringing the reading into the legal world by explaining terms through characters.  

The world can also be your version of how things should be, or how you understand them. I wrote an article years ago, trying to convince Oklahomans to reject medical marijuana. Signature seekers were everywhere at the time. I couldn’t go into a Reasor’s (grocery) without someone asking me to sign this or that petition to legalize it. Promoters leaned into the “medicine” angle, which was always bullshit. I did a little research on California and Colorado. At the time they were the only states with an extensive record to draw from. Typically, it was a disaster for a lot of reasons.

The world I tried to present was one of carnage and decay if legalization went forward. The trick is to be convincing. You have to know a few things about Oklahoma law for starters, or the world falls apart. For instance, we have a provision that allows a question to go on the ballot with only a handful of signatures. This low threshold allowed the group Oklahomans for Health to put it on the primary ballot and get it passed. It’s not enough to say what you’re for or what you’re against, opinions must come with concrete examples. I think my article holds up today as an editorial against a notoriously bad idea. But I had to first write out some thought problems in my world and knock down what didn’t make sense.

It’s not the textbook definition of world building, but it presents the same challenges of consistency in logic and timelines. Because writing can feel like work I’ll often avoid it. Writing is concerned with critical thinking and reading with creative thinking. TV or streaming shows are neither. Going forward I’ll have to be more disciplined. I can reward myself with a book.

Born to Run: A Review

 

'Born to Run' is an Engaging Story on Endurance Running, Written with Passion

I finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Written over 15 years ago, it’s an examination of endurance running, the Tarahumara Indian tribe and what it means about the science of running. McDougall begins by following a mythical runner in Mexico who jogs across the country, hermit like, for the sheer joy of it. This extreme athlete is named Caballo Blanco (White Horse) and tells McDougall about his idea to bring the best ultramarathon runners to the dangerous Copper Mountains for an exclusive race. It’s an unofficial race in the some of the driest, rockiest terrain on earth. What seems like a crazy idea, turns out to have momentum. Caballo convinced a few of the top ultra marathon runners in the US (Scott Jurek, Ted McDonald, Billy Bonehead and Jenn Shelton) to try his makeshift course.

Race in Mexico

Through a series of connections, they all agree to meet in Mexico and run with Caballo and a handful of bashful Tarahumara. This 50 mile race through the Cooper Mountains is the backdrop for a short history of the Tarahumara indians and their inclusion in a notorious ultramarathon known as Leadville in 1993. From that race, the author traces the seeds of barefoot running and the science of how humans do it. Humans are the only mammals that can run and breathe at the same time. Which in theory, means they can outrun prey over a long distance. At least that’s where some of this research takes the reader.

Caballo is the central character whose mysterious life isn’t revealed until the end. We only get drips and drabs of his past. Jenn and Billy are hard partying surf bums, cocky and reckless, that discovered distance running just a few years before. They’ve both stacked up a handful of wins in a short time. Scott Jurek is a legend in ultra marathon running by this point, by far the most recognizable name in the group. Ted McDonald, barefoot Ted, is an eccentric who’s discovered the benefits of running with either flat shoes or no shoes.

the author is himself a runner and joins the group for the race in Mexico while recounting the once in a lifetime experience. The subtext of the book is, are humans meant to run such long distances or is it damaging to the body? The answer is yes, and no. Humans are meant to run if they do it correctly. The damage is minimal when the technique is right.

In the spirit of proper form, Christopher McDougall begins working with a trainer. Most of what he learned remains a fixture in long distance running today. Take quick steps and shorten your stride, keep your heart rate low and burn fat instead of sugar. The point of teaching your body to burn fat instead is that it’s a more consistent source of energy. To get there, you need to stay below your aerobic threshold or heavy breathing. As most runners can attest though, running with a low heart rate is difficult.

Barefoot Trends

Another aspect of author Christopher McDougall’s training is strengthening his feet. Flatter shoes, or huarache sandals like the Tarahumara use, allow your feet to adapt to surfaces better than cushioned Nikes do. Between the tribes and barefoot Ted, the book spends a good deal of time on the benefits of running in sandals or shoeless. I remember there being a barefoot jogging trend around the time this book came out. McDougall makes a solid case for it. But shoe companies still put out ever more cushioning in their latest models. I suspect it’s because most non-runners buy the majority of the shoes anyway. How many ultra marathon runners do you know? It’s still a very niche sport even among fitness enthusiasts. That doesn't translate to big sales.

McDougall also changed his diet and started eating more like a Tarahumara indian. That meant a lot of “fruit, beans, yams, whole grains and vegetables.” He started eating salads at breakfast and became a convert, partly because you can stuff yourself and still have energy for a workout. He started doing pushups and lunges instead of stretching. The increased strength worked to sharpen his balance, and he began to become a better athlete and not just a better runner.

 I like his description from page 212 and 213 on the improvement. “Because I was eating lighter and hadn’t been laid up once by injury, I was able to run more; because I was running more, I was sleeping great, feeling relaxed, and watching my resting heart rate drop. My personality had even changed: The grouchiness and temper I’d considered part of my Irish-Italian DNA had ebbed so much that my wife remarked ‘Hey, if this comes from ultrarunning I’ll tie your shoes for you.’ I knew aerobic exercise was a powerful antidepressant, but I hadn’t realized it could be so profoundly mood stabilizing and–I hate to use the word—meditative. If you don’t have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.”

Conclusion

For all the foot racing history and anthropology this book covers, its best feature is the enthusiasm of the author. Nothing gets people interested in a hobby or lifestyle change the way an honest promoter can. I wasn’t sold on the idea that our early ancestors used to run down prey until it dropped from exhaustion. But Christopher McDougall, the journalist who found a story in the heart of the Sierra Madres and improved his own fitness as a result? That’s the best story of all. It inspires me.

 

  

Gimme Chaos: The Chicago Bears 2026 Season So Far

The Chicago Bears Are the Miracle Team of This Season

The Chicago Bears pulled off another upset in dramatic, heart stopping fashion last night. The late game, come from behind wins are an identity for a team that’s having success with a first year coach and second year quarterback. They might lose their next playoff game and take some needed rest. But even if that happens, this has been a miraculous season. I’ve never seen a team like this and I can’t wait to see them again.

It's been a while since the Bears faithful have been this optimistic about the future.

The Past is the Past

 Lovie Smith’s 2005-06 team got to the Super Bowl and lost to Payton Manning’s Colts. The defense was dynamic; they won the turnover battle in nearly every game. Charles Tillman and Brian Urlacher anchored what’s considered the best defense since the legendary 1986 Super Bowl team. Rex Grossman, who they drafted in 2003, threw for over 3000 yards that year and 23 touchdowns. He did throw it a lot of interceptions that year, 20 to be exact. But they always managed to get over the line thanks to Devin Hester’s incredible 5 kick return touchdowns.

They managed a few wild card births in 2018 and in 2020 but lost both times in the first round. Since then, it’s been a lot of mediocre football. The Bears seemed to have an identity much like the Steelers, historically good defenses and average offenses.

As an NFL team they relied on their defense to score more than other teams. The Caleb Williams led team feels determined to give their fans a heart attack on every close game. Last night was the first round of the playoffs. Bears drew the Packers. Yikes. No Bears fan wanted to play them, even at home. Green Bay has a 51-20 win advantage over Chicago since the 90’s. Why start with the 90’s? Because it’s during the Favre era, and the subsequent dominance of their quarterbacks. Three quality starters to be exact, Favre, Rogers and Love have led consistent winners during that time. Chicago has had more quarterbacks than windy days in January.

Present and Future

So No. I didn’t want to play the Packers. It felt like the Bears snuck away with a win during the last meeting. We split the regular season games this year. Both went down to last tick of the clock. But this team has come from behind in 7 games this year in the 4^th quarter to win. Last night’s victory was easily the most dramatic. Chicago was down 21-3 at halftime while the silent crowd looked on with horror at the ensuing beat down of their beloved Monsters of the Midway.

Jordan Love’s offense ran through the Bears defense like crap through a goose. Bears coach Ben Johnson insisted on going for every 4^th down conversion on offense. What seemed risky was just a way to avoid letting the defense back on the field.

Johnson told the sideline reporter at halftime that he was just maximizing the possessions. It’s not an unusual move. They’ve done this to some degree all season. But last night they were going for it on their own 35 yard line, a seriously dumb idea unless your defense is falling apart. To everyone’s surprise however, the defense made some real adjustments after halftime and kept the Packers to a handful of 3 and outs.

The Rest of the Story

 That still left a sclerotic offense. Three field goals seemed to be all they could muster. Then Deandre Swift caught a pass and finally scooted in for a TD. Suddenly the Bears were back in the game with a 21-16 score. The Packers answered quickly with another touchdown pass to Doubs to make it 27-16.

Bears add another 8 points with a pass to Zaccheaus and a 2 point conversion to Loveland. DJ Moore then caught a touchdown pass to give the Bears a 31-27 advantage. The Packers kicker Mcmannus missed a critical field goal which forced them into needing a touchdown drive in the final minute. The newly energized defense, and the increasing crowd noise, was just enough to dash the hopes of the Wild Card Packers. All of Chicago stood in unison, jangled nerves and bated breath, as Jordan Love tried in vain to complete a hail Mary touchdown pass. Then we celebrated. All of Chicago lost its collective mind as the hated rivals fell for the second time this season.

 Who knew they could beat the Packers more than once in a season?

Conclusion

It's easy to think of this team as chaotic because of their late game heroics. Good teams win by building a lead and then defending it. At least that’s what we’ve come to expect from strategic offenses like Brady’s Patriots and Manning’s Colts. But there is a freewheeling aspect to this offense by its quick, athletic quarterback. He completed a deep pass to Rome Odunze off his back foot, falling away like Jordan against the Knicks. That particular play was on a 4^th down scramble to keep the final drive moving down the field. The game would’ve been over had it been knocked down or dropped. But this team survives on these ‘not done yet’ heroics constantly. You might even call it a brand. For now at least, it’s how they roll.

I’ll take it. I’ll take the heart palpitations, the sweating, the cursing and the crying. I’ll take the nervous laughter and the angry texts to family when they fall behind or turn the ball over. I’ll take the risky 4^th down passes in their own territory and the 10-minute scrambles to find an open receiver. I’ll take the chaos, the energy, the passion and the wins. Let’s Go Bears!

 

We Came We Saw We Left: A Family Gap Year--Book Review

 

The Family That Travels Together Learns Together

Years ago my girlfriend bought me a book years ago called Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. Its author is Charles Wheelan, a lecturer at Dartmouth and all around statistics geek. One measure of how well someone knows their topic is the extent to which they can explain it to a novice. Yes…me. It’s is the best book I’ve read on the mechanics of banking, paper money and how it explains almost everything relating to exchange. He writes simply. That’s the best thing you can do.

The Gift of Books

I was in Barnes and Noble doing some Christmas shopping, for others naturally. I searched the travel section because I love the genre thought others might enjoy it. We Came We Saw We Left: A Family Gap Year caught my attention on the upper shelf. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a sucker for a good cover image. It’s an aerial view of a bus kicking up dirt on a backcountry road and a view of the ocean. Based on where the family traveled, I’d say it’s in South America, but who knows? It gives off a remote vacation vibe. I wanted to go there. I wanted to read the book. The gift giving would have to wait.

The title is dopey. I’m not a title snob at all, but you have to give me more than “We Left”. I get that there’s a subtitle about this being a vacation trip with the family. But a little more of a theme would help. Like, “We Came We Saw We Survived”, or “We Came We Saw We Grew”. Better? Maybe not much, but it’s just non-descript and leaves me with a blank space about the nature of the trip. At least “We Came We Saw, Yada Yada Yada” would have been funnier.  

The Gift of Travel

Ultimately not a big deal however, the author created an fun and interesting read. I didn’t realize until after reading the little blurb on the back that it’s the Naked Economics guy, Charles Wheelan. Once an author makes an impression there is a good chance I’ll read them again. I bought it right there. Actually, I searched my library app for a free copy and free availability. Who could have predicted? It was available. So No I didn’t buy it.

A lot of what’s interesting about the story is how they were able to take a 9 month vacation around the world with the whole family. Charles and his wife have 3 kids. The oldest daughter was in her last year of high school. The other two, one daughter and a young son, were old enough to travel with the family and appreciate it. At least appreciate it in that teenager sense, where their own friends and interests still outrank a trip with the parental units. The idea for the gap year trip came from Charles and his wife Leah, who did a similar trip as newlyweds. If travel brings you joy then travel. It’s not for every person and certainly not every family. But the Wheelans place great importance on experiences in foreign places. Making a priority for the family is admirable.

The Gift of Accounting

They rented their home for at least part of the trip to their cousins. It solved two problems right away, a caretaker for the dogs and money for expenses. The couple planned the trip with tight budgeting and started saving in advance. It sounds like Leah was the gatekeeper of the finances. Nine months can get expensive with all the flying and apartment renting they did. At one point Charles mentions avoiding Europe altogether because of the cost. But they did travel through South America, Australia, Africa and Asia.

Along the way came the usual travel problems of illness and missed flights, lost goods and bureaucratic silliness. Katrina, the oldest daughter picked up a flesh eating bacteria on her ankle that antibiotics didn’t help. The other two, Sophie and CJ take online classes but struggle to keep up and turn in the work. The Wheelans struggle to stay on top of the kids’ education while distractions abound. I’d expect this to be the most difficult aspect of bouncing around the world. Kids need routine when it comes to homework. Then again, without friends and school activities filing up the week, they should have more time. But it’s vacation too.

The Gift of Learning

My favorite story was of the family’s trip to the Amazon. In a series of dangerous trips up the river and through caves, they took chances and learned how to support each other. It felt a bit like a metaphor for the whole idea of taking a gap year. From the finances to the planning and the diversions in between, there is a lot that goes into a global adventure and it’s not a guarantee you’ll enjoy it. You might also get robbed or violently ill from eating something your body couldn’t handle. Living from country to country like this isn’t for the faint of heart. But that’s also the point of doing it. You might find a new passion for surfing in Australia or hiking in Patagonia. Adventure means leaving what’s comfortable and striking out. If you’re up for it, it might make you a life long globe trekker. It’s what Charles and Leah discovered after their first year of marriage.

Conclusion

I talked to an Irishman just the other day about the travel habits of Americans. He asked where I visited when I flew to Ireland with my brother and friend. I rattled off a list of cities and regions. “How long were you there?” he asked. I told him 10 days and he shook his head. “You can’t see it like that”. What he meant was, don’t move around so much. As Americans we do too much on vacation. That’s the stereotype at least. It holds up here with the Wheelans as well. Obviously they enjoyed it, so it doesn’t matter what I think. It’s my only critique of the trip. They covered too much territory for a 9 month trip. Likely the kids will develop an appreciation for travel though and make it an essential part of their children’s education. Well done guys.  

 

Limiting Football On TV: Or Being Cheap With the Programing

 

The High Cost of Too Much TV: Learn to Say No

 I missed the Bears game last week. I followed the game on one of those YouTube channels where a fan tells you what’s going on in the game in real time. It’s not as good as watching the game, but it’s at least a real time broadcast. I don’t think I can even listen on the radio for free anymore. The last time I tried it I had to log in or sign up or get some app. Whatever the requirements were, I didn’t want to mess with it. As for the NFL ticket or game package on TV, I’m not about to shell out that much. I’m pretty sure it’s around $500 to see every game. I’m a fan, but not that much.

Football and TV

Even my brother only gets the red zone. He can certainly afford to buy the full package, but he won’t fork over that much either. I might be exaggerating the price a little, but I’m sure it’s in the $500 range. While at work earlier this summer, I talked with my coworker about the package. Despite his lifelong interest in the Denver Broncos, he refused to pay it as well. YouTube might have overshot the interest in the plan. Then again, I don’t know how much they bought it for. At least I have Prime. I can see all the Thursday games and one black Friday game every year. This year the Bears played the Eagles on black Friday.

I’d rather the NFL got rid of the Thursday games. At least with black Friday it’s only one week per year they do a Friday game. The teams don’t get the full rest they need on Thursday and it shows. It’s usually the sloppiest game you’ll see all year.

I can’t back this up with any kind of data, it’s a ‘feel thing’. Sloppy play means a lot of false starts and poor routes, missed tackles and on-field fights. If your team looks out of sink it’s probably a Thursday game. More Bears games would be nice, but I can’t justify the high price of the TV package. Anyway I don’t have YouTube premium or whatever they call it. The MLB network package worked out well for me this year. At the beginning of the season it was around $150 for the year. I didn’t get every Cubs game but probably around 75% of them. But I didn’t buy the package until May, which means I missed a whole month. By then it was only $60 through Prime. I used that month to find out if the Cubs would be worth watching 3 nights a week. They were. This upcoming year I’ll get the package again, but I’m not sure if buying through Prime is the same thing as just buying through MLB network.

Can’t imagine it’s any different but I never checked it out.

Reading and No TV

Sports are basically the only thing I’ll pay for. Prime is the only streaming service I have. It’s the crappiest one as far as shows and movies, but I’m not paying for Netflix or Hulu or Disney. You have to decide which one you want and forget the rest. TV shouldn’t be this expensive. It used to be free after all. Just adjust the rabbit ears on the top of the screen and hope it doesn’t short out on you. But then again, we do have a lot of options nowadays that didn’t exist before. And the vast number of shows and films made every year is staggering. But at some point, you can’t watch everything. You need to be choosy for the sake of your mental health if nothing else.

Free time can make people lazy. I’m certainly in this camp, but I’m trying to make better choices with my time. Books are better for your brain than movies. I don’t have a study to reference but it’s obvious right? There is something about reading that inspires writing too. I’ve noticed this while reading. It’s like there is some section of the brain where reading and writing thrive and even work on the same frequency. TV has a way of turning off some creative part of your brain. As much as I like sports, I’m more selective with how many games I watch per Sunday. Bears weren’t on today in my area. I turned it off. Not like I didn’t want to watch football either. But if I watched an early game, I’d probably watch a later game. And then I’d watch some of the Sunday night game, while talking on the phone to my cousin. On a warmer day I’d be outside raking leaves and being productive.

Conclusion

Circling back to the NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube, the high cost almost ensures you’ll watch more football. When you pay a steep price for something you want to get the most out of it. I’d feel obligated to keep the channel on all day. That’s something I don’t need. For now I’ll watch what I can and read more books. This wasn’t meant to be New Year’s resolution post, but it’s sounding a lot like one. I guess that’s OK, we’re in the season for it. Merry Christmas and go Bears!

Avoiding the Hospital and Trying to Live Healthy

 

Time and Healthy Living Will Blunt Most Medical Conditions

I had a checkup with my doctor the other day. I’m required to go at least every few years to get my prescription refilled. I have enough refills throughout the year to survive, but per the insurance, I can’t just keep getting the same drug in perpetuity. Maybe it’s the drug companies that require that, I’m not sure. Either way it feels like wasted time. We can handle most of this through the web chart portal I would think.

 “Still having the same issues?” Yes.

 “Any difference on the prior history forms since 3 years ago?” No.

I suppose they need to do the requisite blood pressure checks and breathing tests. In person visits are the only way, no getting around that.

Early Childhood Skepticism

We didn’t go to the doctor much as kids. Only the most serious issues would force a begrudging trip to the emergency room or walk in clinic. My parents figured our bodies could take care of whatever illness worked its way through our system. Kids get respiratory infections all the time. Stomach aches too and ear infections are a regular part of growing up. Broken arms and fingers need to be set of course, but fevers just need time. You might miss school but after a short while you’ll be back to normal. There are always exceptions. I still have a scar on my right middle finger from stuffing my hand into a coffee mug and cracking the porcelain while washing the dishes. Needless to say, we rushed to the emergency room after I stopped the bleeding with a tightly wound rag.

As an adult I’ve kept the same reluctant approach toward hospitals and doctors. It’s not a fear necessarily but a “why bother” attitude. Your body can fix most attacks whether flu or headaches. Some things take longer to leave your system, but rest and time are all that’s needed. There might be some superstition in my thinking I’ll admit. Like, if the doctor can’t see something “off” in my bloodwork it’s not really a problem. This is a bit like not checking your bank account balance and hoping it’s still full after buying a vacation cruise package to the Bahamas. If I don’t look at it then I don’t have to think about it.

But there’s some truth to not thinking about problems and just letting your body fix it.

The Internal Fix

As a runner I’ve lost count of all the ankle, foot and calf pain that seems to be a regular occurrence. I’m not talking about debilitating pain but nagging injuries. Every few weeks another one pops up. They’re not enough to keep me from jogging though. Usually stretching and sleep are enough. Plantar Fasciitis was the worst injury I’ve experienced. That one forced me to quit running for 3 to 4 months until I didn’t notice it anymore. Stretching didn’t help. Massages didn’t help. Only prayer and waiting got me over the hump. The point is, the body is designed to heal itself.

Despite the sickness and disease in the world, our bodies are constantly fighting off infection, repairing damaged tissue and breaking down toxins. Our part is staying healthy and choosing to exercise and eat right. My attitude towards doctor visits was shaped as a kid. At root, is a belief in the body’s ability to heal itself. If God is the designer of our bodies, it means he created them to heal and repair and function in an orderly way. That’s a first principles philosophy on health and fitness for me. It’s only a starting point though. There remains a slew of health issues that have nothing to do with poor diet or inactivity. But leaving aside autoimmune diseases, birth defects and mental disorders, a lot of illnesses are lifestyle related. Meaning, diet and exercise are being ignored.

New Approaches to Health

I’m not one to preach healthy living but the whole MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement has made me rethink food. Like most conservatives I’ve always taken a libertarian approach to the health of others. It’s none of my business. The finger wagging stuff from the federal government has always irritated me. Unfortunately, health care’ is now shorthand for medicine and hospitals. That means runaway costs for people that probably shouldn’t be on drugs, if they took better care of themselves. In an ideal system everyone would pay their own healthcare without the distorting effect of insurance on the market. We aren’t there yet. For now, it’s a government run system heavily dependent on a both federal dollars and insurance company cooperation. I don’t pretend to understand it all. It’s too opaque.

Like education, health care spending in America outpaces nearly every other country and produces the worst results. We’re dumber and sicker. Since the American heath care system is so intertwined with multiple interests, it’s not out of bounds to start reigning in the drug companies. They’re a major beneficiary of the total spending, and that’s the way they like it. But we don’t need cheaper drugs as much as we need fewer people on drugs. I hope this is where RFK Jr and HHS (health and human services) end up. So far he’s lost a lot of people who aren’t serious about the direction of the cabinet. He’s right to start from the position that Americans are as unhealthy as we’ve ever been, and work backward towards a solution.

Conclusion

I started off mentioning my visit to the doctor to get a refill. I didn’t miss the obvious irony either, complaining about people who don’t need drugs while taking one myself. All I can say is it’s not from poor health, mental or physical. But then again, maybe there is more I can do from a trial and error perspective. I suppose I could try a different set of vitamins. The body was made to heal itself after all. God designed us as image bearers of Him.

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” (Psalm 139:14)

 

 

 

 

What Does the book of James Tell us About Prayer?

 The Importance of the Unity in the Church: James and the Power of Prayer

The church I attend held a prayer service last night. For the last 3 months or so we’ve been slowly going through the book of James. Written by James the brother of Jesus, it’s a practical and short New Testament letter to an early church in Jerusalem. Faith is a common theme, as is confession of sins and righteous living. The last chapter gives practical steps for praying over the sick and confessing sins to one another. Prayer is central to building strong Christian communities inside and outside the church walls.

Confession and Healing

In that attitude, a slightly different service was arranged to maximize one on one prayer. Instead of a single sermon, there were stations throughout the sanctuary with prayer partners. We used the last chapter of James (5) as a templet for faith in practice.

First comes obedience to the Word, then a move of the Spirit to do good works.

 “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, an let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” (13-14)

Our team usually prays at the end of the service. Volunteers (Elders) come forward to wait and agree with those in need. It’s not just for the sick either. A fair amount need prayer for job situations, marriage and issues with families and kids. Many are there on behalf of others. Prayer is such an integral part of a Christian community that I feel terrible for those who aren’t afforded it. I don’t mean corporate prayer from the leadership. I’m talking about the ground level one of one type of prayer. We could all do well to follow the instruction of the apostle Paul and “…bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Doers and Hearers

To bear another’s burden might begin with prayer, but often requires follow ups and practical help. Church leadership does this. It’s part of their mission. But the church isn’t just an organization of ordained ministers who get paid to preach and visit members in the hospital. It’s a union of people, committed to growing in faith and knowledge of the scripture. The two biggest tasks for Christians are, preaching the gospel to those outside the church and bearing the burdens of those inside it. As it was with the first church in the book of Acts, it remains to this day. Faith in practice for the unity of the church and its impact on non-believers, is a strong theme from the book of James. As is waiting and trusting in God's plan.

He follows up his instructions to the elders about healing. “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (15-16).

Now we have a starting point. Sickness, disease and injury are realities of life. But our confidence for healing was secured by the Christ’s resurrection. James doesn’t spend time on legal arguments about the authority residing in the church over disease. Healing is axiomatic. That tells me the principle of divine authority was understood when James wrote his letter. No explanation was needed.

Agreement and Reluctance

James is concerned with doing and being the church. Faith plus works equals life in Christ.

God works through His people as a channel to others. This is important to remember during these sessions of healing prayer. We don’t heal or save anyone. The Christian’s role is to agree with scripture for the one in need. We speak and God moves. A lot of the reluctance around healing prayer is connected to the emotionalism of tent revival meetings from the 1980s. Large churches in particular want to avoid anything that seems weird or out of control. Even Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, lays out some restrictions for church control over speaking in tongues during service. The idea being, people won’t join if they’re afraid of being in cult.

The gospel is for everyone so handle with care.

But the scripture is clear on the power of God when the gospel is preached. In Acts 10, Peter speaks to the house of Cornelius and they have an encounter with the Holy Spirit. Peter became the channel of God’s power by being obedient to the vision he had about the Gentiles.

Conclusion

This is the model for churches. Obedience proceeds salvation and healing. More believers are brought into the faith because they see the goodness of God, demonstrated through healing. We prayed for almost 500 people in all 3 services this weekend. Some responded with salvation and others believed for physical healing. The ones I prayed with were there for healing on behalf of others. I expect miraculous stories in the weeks ahead and I can’t wait to hear them.

Immigration and Populism in the West

 

The Future Of the West and Populism: The Disaster of Unchecked Immigration

I started reading a book called the Guns of August. 

It’s supposedly one of the best books on World War I. So far it’s giving a lot of background on the monarchies running most of Europe before the war. So many of them were related. Since the Middle Ages, kings and queens married off their kids to the kids of other rulers. After a few hundred years, Western Europe was made up of a handful of families. How much the world has changed since these monarchies lost power? World War II was the beginning of the end for most of the European dynasties. The families were able to keep their titles, but power shifted to elected governments. Obviously it’s different from country to country, but that model certainly carried the day.

The current global order with look different in the next few years as populism reasserts the need for sovereignty, after being nearly lost by mass immigration.

Global Order

The struggle is between a global order and a nationalist/populist surge. The global order got going after World War II with the Bretton Woods meeting of business and government leaders. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a way to stabilize trade and institute a rules based order on currency exchange. Partly to counter the instability of Communism, they believed economic alliances and free trade was key to stability.

In that same vein, European coal and steel industries came together in a multi country alliance after the Treaty of Paris (1951). Once those initial 6 countries (West Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands) were in a common market, additional countries (Portugal, Spain) joined the alliance. It’s been called the European Union since 1992, and includes all of Western Europe and even a few Slavic countries (Slovakia, Bulgaria).

Whatever the benefits to international organizations, the global order runs roughshod over the sovereignty of nation states. America still maintains a lot of independence in real terms, but big decisions aren’t voted on by the public. Immigration is the biggest of all.  

Cultural Stressors

 Europe, Canada and America have all made the same mistake since at least the 1980s. They’ve taken in too many immigrants from other parts of the world for mostly economic reasons. Often the cultures are very different. This isn’t a moot point either. North African Muslims think very little of females, same with Pakistani Muslims. Rape of white girls in England is a terrible problem in a lot of the cities where large populations of them live.

In America the problem is just one of rampant crime. When you don’t know who is in the country it puts a strain on everyone, law enforcement included. I’m not saying we don’t have crime or violence without illegal immigration either. But in the last 20 years or so the lack of attention to the border has become a problem. It’s really because illegal immigration benefits the globalist model that it’s been impossible to stop. The laws on emigrating to another country don’t matter if no one enforces them in the first place. The population never got a vote on immigration. After so many years of open borders, rampant crime and Visa abuses, a strong populist party began to form.

In America Republican populism pushed Trump to the presidency. In Britain it’s unclear how strong the populist sentiment is. Tommy Robinson might be the most effective spokesman for the Right, despite the mainstream media calling him a racist. He gets tossed into jail for the smallest slights. Cleary the British government fears him. Will Nigel Farage be enough of a blunt instrument to deport illegals and slam the door shut on further immigration? He seems more opportunist than agent of change, but we will see. Populism can easily go Left wing as well. It’s not a sure bet that it stays on the Right.

New York City just elected a Socialist mayor from Uganda, but in other ways the global order is in retreat. The idea that nations should decide their own fate is back in style. The question is, will Right wing populism be able to bring back sovereignty and order? Has the slide into runaway immigration gone on for too long? Can America claw back cities like Dearborn, MI and Minneapolis, MN from Muslim control? Whoever decided to turn these places into Mogadishu in the heartland should be thrown out of the country. Or at the very least, be forced live there and have their kids attend school under Sharia norms.

Disastrous History

Mass immigration will turn out to be the biggest disaster of the 21^st century. Immigration as an idea isn’t a terrible thing for a country, but without assimilation it will be a problem. I’d be in favor of a moratorium for 20 years on all immigration. This of course, while deporting those here illegally on a scale that dwarfs the recent waves of people coming in. There was a time when I would be worried about being thought of as cruel toward immigrants. After all, America has seen large groups of immigrants arrive since the early 1800s, why pull up the drawbridge for newbies?

Because we’ve been conned. The tech bros in Silicon Valley pretend that their special kind of talent can only be found in the Asian continent. They get H-1B visas for a lot of their technical help instead of hiring Americans. It’s a con, because they don’t have to pay them as much or keep them as long. Some companies will offshore the jobs connected to the visas. Why don’t Americans have the supposed skill anyway? We spend more on post-secondary school than most countries in the world, by an order of magnitude. We have around 350 million people in this country. H-1B visas are a cost saving measure for the tech industry and nothing more.

Another way we’ve been conned on visas, is believing that Americans won’t do certain jobs. I’m sympathetic to this argument to a degree. Certain industries, lawn care, construction, agriculture are labor intensive and don’t pay well at the bottom level. When unemployment pays better than cutting grass, people find ways to get fired. Add in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) fraud and you’ve just eliminated 2 very big expenses for your family. Employers are rightly put off by all the lazy Americans.

 But only with alternatives can it be said that Americans won’t do a job. Employers can say a person won’t work if there is another who will work for less. It’s not a real choice. If no second person existed to give the work to, you’d have to make accommodations with the first one. Illegal immigration changes the calculation by introducing a second person. And when you start to add other industries (trucking, restaurant and hotels) Americans get pushed out of everything except retail and marketing.

This is a two part problem requiring curbs on both immigration and unemployment. The goal is to get Americans off the dole and into the labor market. The Trump administration has gone after illegal immigration and continues to deport in large numbers. The next phase is to cut into the wasteful unemployment system and get people working again. This is much tougher because it requires getting reps to vote for less money. 

Conclusion

The monarchies in Europe thought their control would only increase before World War I, but after 1918 most were gone, replaced by republics or revolutions. Since Word War II we’ve seen a global order run by international institutions and dollar dominance. But populism is on the rise, as is nationalism. The excessive movement of people across borders has displaced native workers and caused resentment among citizens. The best case scenario is for politicians to take up the cause of their voters, both in America and Europe. Globalists want unchecked immigration; populists want enforcement of laws. No one wants revolution or civil war. In 10 years the world will look very different. 

 

Justice Run 2025: Half Marathon Version

 

A Race For Everyone: Justice Run Fun

Running is becoming a family affair. Last weekend was the 4^th time I’ve completed a race at the Justice Run. This time it was only a half marathon. The full seemed a little out of reach for where my training is this year. That turned out to be the best option after all. I finished just over 2 hours and 16 minutes. Slower than I’d like, but at least I finished running the whole way. I’m starting to set my expectations a little lower on some of these summer runs. I know it’s not summer, but the heat hasn’t relented enough for me to feel like keeping a quick pace. I tried to eat a little more in hopes that my energy levels wouldn’t dip so much. I’m not sure how much it helped, but I’m in a phase right now where I’m trying different things.

Recovery Tools

For the second time after a race, I got a vitamin cocktail IV at one of the booths. It’s perfect for quick recovery. For whatever reason I get very wiped out during these races and nothing feels better than a full bag of nutrients right into the blood stream. I was getting chills sitting there in the chair. The IV bag is quite cold apparently. They offered me a blanket and I declined. Not because I wasn’t cold, but because I thought I looked pathetic enough on a chair with an IV bag dripping into my veins. I wasn’t interested in looking even more like a hospital patient.

Instead I shivered--like a man!

While the color started to return to my face and recovered, the 5K run began. That’s important because my nephew and 2 nieces ran their first race along with another family (the houses) we know well. My brother and me and my mom all walked over near the finish line to cheer them on. At this point I was full of energy and happy to be on the other side. Emily managed to cross the finish line first. That took us all by surprise because she is the youngest. The rest of the kids passed the line about 5 minutes apart. Bella first and then Christian. All of them had a great experience and can’t wait to do it again. We talked about doing a Turkey Trot at Thanksgiving since they’ll all be here. I’m not sure if this will come off but I do hope so. Turkey day has a way of making people relax and watch football instead.

The seeds of running were planted.

Habitual Tools

There is something about listening to people cheer as you cross the finish line that keeps you coming back. You get a medal and a tee shirt to remember the day. You start to learn how fast you can run and still maintain a constant pace. The more races you do, the more you learn. It’s fun to strategize and improve. Mostly it’s good for you and builds habits that can last a lifetime. Later that evening we had steaks on the grill, another tradition that we all look forward to.

I was happy the race wasn’t rained out. Two years ago it rained heavily the night before and washed out the running trails. The organizers pushed the start time back a few hours hoping for a little more light and little less water on the track. It worked out despite the later start. The first 30 minutes were sloppy but the water drained off enough to make it passable. This year it looked to be a repeat of that. Friday night brought monsoon level rain to Fort Worth. Flash flooding was a problem that night across the region. Fortunately, it didn’t stop the race. Pooling water wasn’t a problem on the path either. The worst part was probably the humidity it brought with it. Living in the south means getting used to the heat though.

Conclusion

But it's finally on the way out. Colder temps are on the way and despite being uncomfortable in the early part of the race, it allows me to go longer. I realize that I write a lot about the weather in these running blog posts. But it plays such an important part in how my body performs that I always feel the need to mention it. The goal is to learn to run despite the conditions. In that regard, I’ve got a way to go.