This was a Q I had been anticipating for a little while, mostly because after missing my previous three Detention beatdowns, Hot-4-Teacher was “most likely” going to be there. So was Tardy, who had also mysteriously missed my previous few visits. They’d be joined by the regular group of Detention dudes (always a hard-working crowd) as well as the beast himself Rocking Chair who was in attendance to support an FNG. In all, eighteen men circled up, prayed up and psyched themselves up as I prepared to beat them down.
Here’s how it all happened…
WEATHER
HUUUUUUMID
COP
MOSEY around the building and over to the blacktop (long way) and circle up for COP
SSH X 18 IC
MERKINS X 18 IC (down-2-3-up)
SQUATS X 18 IC (down-2-3-up)
MERKINS X 18 IC (down-2-3-up)
TTT X 18 IC
MERKINS X 18 IC (down-2-3-up)
IMPERIAL WALKERS X 18 IC
BURPEES (6-ct.) X 18 IC
THE BEATDOWN
MOSEY around the track and line up at bottom of the tri-level hill
BW RUN to top of hill: MERKINS X 18 OYO
FW RUN to bottom of hill: IMPERIAL WALKERS X 18 OYO
BW RUN to top of hill: SQUATS X 18 OYO
FW RUN to bottom of hill: BURPEES X 18 OYO
PLANK for the six
MOSEY to bottom of side drive – gather at first pole
BW RUN to top first light pole – turn and SPRINT to second pole: MERKINS X 18 OYO
FW RUN to bottom of hill: V-SITS X 18 OYO
BW RUN to top first light pole – turn and SPRINT to second pole: MONKEY HUMPERS X 18 OYO
FW RUN to bottom of hill: BURPEES X 18 OYO
PLANK for the six
MOSEY to fresh blacktop pad for MARY
MARY
* As Cheech was know by many as a man of faith, our Mary exercises will honor that. 19 IC reps comes out to 38 seconds – one for each year he walked this earth.
FLUTTER KICKS X 19 IC
AMERICAN HAMMERS X 19 IC
IMPERIAL WALKERS X 19 IC
T-PLANKS X 19 IC (10 – left arm, 9 right arm)
HILLBILLIES X 19 IC
MOSEY back to flag pole (long way)
RECOVER
FNG
Travis Nicholson – relocated from Florence, used to run and do cross fit, taking a break from that, single, no kids, brought by Rocking Chair (Glider? Cracker Barrel?) Welcome Cracker Barrel.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* Study Hall – 4:40 on Thursday
* Lots of 2nd F lunch opportunities (Monday – Crossings Deli, Tuesday – Schlotzky’s in WC, Friday – Salsarita’s in Lexington)
* Wander is headed to the Mission on the 19th to teach them about rucking – let Training Wheels or Banjo know if you have a ruck they can borrow
* Lexington Jailbreak Escape – August 19
* Stomp the Swamp 5K – August 26
PRAYER REQUESTS
* Flanagan family
* Becca Laird
* F3 Brotherhood as we continue to process the loss of our brother Cheech
* Ranger’s mom – starting new round of chemo today
* Postal’s friend – marriage situation
* Cankles’s son – seizure recovery – in hospital being monitored
DEVO
Today’s devo came from a recent morning devotional from author/speaker/pastor Skye Jethani and his daily “WITH God” e-mail devotional. It’s an amazing daily resource that can be accessed by going to skyejethani.com and signing up.
Responding to Charlottesville
August 14, 2017
The events in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend are a tragic reminder that centuries of bloodshed have not yet purged America’s original sin from its soil. Instead, another sacrifice has been demanded—this time it was 32-year-old Heather Heyer. She had gathered with others in Charlottesville for a counter-protest against the Alt-Right white supremacists when a Nazi-sympathizer plowed his car through the crowd killing Heyer and injuring 19 others.
The historic failure of wars and laws to eradicate racism in our country is what makes Martin Luther King Jr.’s message, deeply rooted in the gospel of Christ, more timely than ever. King was convinced that only love could heal our land because only love would set both the oppressed and the oppressor free from hate. Here is an excerpt from his sermon where he explains why it is so important for followers of Jesus to love their enemies:
He said…
“Hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does to the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates… There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case…. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false become true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater…. So Jesus tells us to love rather than hate because hate destroys the hater as well as the hated.”
As we mourn for Heather Heyer, for Charlottesville, and for our country, we must also guard ourselves against the distorting power of hate. We must not allow it to take hold of our thoughts nor direct it at the person or group responsible no matter how distorted or evil their views may be. Instead, Jesus commands us to pray for the grace to love those who hate us—not merely for our sake but for theirs.
Chedda’s Thoughts:
My response to reading the above is that this is a challenge that I frankly don’t want to accept sometimes. It’s easier to hate an evil person than it is to love them. It’s easier to point fingers at evil behavior rather than lifting a finger to stop it from happening. When I do this I fail to realize that words are powerful. So are my actions. We must use both our words and our actions and have the courage to stand as symbols of light and love. Matching darkness with darkness does nothing to bring light to the world. Darkness is only revealed when it is compared to light. And so it is with hate and love. May our love for this world (in word and deed) stand so powerfully opposed to the hate being spewed around us that it overcomes those who would so hatefully spew it.
In the end, answering evil and hate with love – bold, courageous, powerful love – is our only hope. And as we fight hate with love, we glorify our God, the one true giver of love and the only one who can truly overcome the evil of this world.
As always, it’s an honor to stand among and lead the men of F3 Lexington and Detention. I look forward to seeing them in the gloom soon.
– Chedda