22.6?

I meant to make this post 4 weeks ago. That was the day I ran 14 miles for the first time in my life. When debriefing with my wife I told her that "if running 14 miles is that hard then I have a newfound respect for anyone who has run a marathon." Which made me think of Brad (venerable moderator of the hope network, who has run a marathon) among others. And it made me think of the hope network. I was hopeful that if I stuck with my training program I would be able to run much further. Even if it was that hard. And let me tell you, those last 2 or 3 miles were really hard and painful.

I'm not training for a marathon. I'm training for a 22.6 mile race over the Colorado National Monument. Though it's 3.6 miles short of a marathon it has over 1500 ft. of elevation gain (a lot of uphill). I consider it a worthy challenge, though.

I'm not sure if it would have been more appropriate to make this post that day or today. Despite being intimidated and discouraged, I did feel hopeful. So the next week I ran 16 miles. They were just as painful, and in fact I spent the rest of my day nauseous. Then the next week I ran 18 miles. I actually felt a little better during much of the run but the last few miles were hanging on for dear life, and I had a hard time walking down the block for cool-down. Then this week I tried hard to procrastinate it, but finally convinced myself to run 20 miles (the peak of my training program). This time the pain kicked-in way earlier in the run for some reason. But I knew I had done 18 and, even if I had to go slower, would be able to do it.

Come race day I will be tapered and much more fresh. And I've run 20 miles so I'll know I can complete those extra 2.6 (downhill) miles. My hope now is a lot less audacious than it was 4 weeks ago. But to be sure, it was hope that kept me going on each of these runs.

I'm glad that 14 was so hard because it prepared me for what was to come.

Dancing with the Stars

Not bad, Cliffy.

Ok, what does this have to do with hope? Good Question.

I'm generally not a fan of reality TV. In most part because it seems to highlight the worst in humanity (who can betray whom, who can stab whom in the back, who can best step on as many people as possible in the name of WINNING AT ALL COSTS!). . Isn't too much of corporate America like that already? Isn't television supposed to be a break from all of that?

That's where Dancing comes in. The show is so positive. There's no Simon WhatshisBritishname nastily taking his personal insecurities out on barely pubescent singers. There's no crazy cook- guy raging around the kitchen making everyone miserable. I just can't hack that stuff. Dancing though is different. It's about people pushing themselves, confronting fears, letting loose and having fun, and dancing! Sure, there are B-listers trying to find that spotlight again. But the celebrities on the show are such great symbols for you and me and everyday average people. They're all famous for things other than dancing, and the show pushed them. There's a HUGE chance of making a complete fool of themselves on the highest rated TV show in the country. Maybe this is my childhood dread of dancing coming up (oh, I had some awkward moments at Bar Mitzvah parties), but there is some serious courage involved on that show!

So Dancing with the Stars is a sign for me that people can celebrate dancing (a wonderful thing in and of itself), can be positive, encourage others, take some major risks of making a fool of themselves, and just have fun. And that this is the top rated show on TV is a wonderful sign. Maybe it's a sign that we as a country are getting sick the lowest-common-denominator TV. I think so!

In the beginning...there was Peace

Caral might be the oldest city in the Americas, a "mother-city" that was at the foundation of civilization itself in this part of the world. Its ruins are in modern-day Peru and date back to over 2600 B.C. I was watching PBS last night, and the story of the city is fascinating enough. But what struck me as so hopeful was this:

The city had no walls, no weapons, no battlements, no mutilated bodies. No war!

For years, the prevailing theory of why cities, and thus civilization, began, was that they resulted from fear of warfare and violence: People gathered together to fight and defend. People today then make the mental leap to: humanity is inherently violent, always has been, always will be.

Bunk! The existence of Caral strongly suggests that this is not true! Further, there is evidence that Caral existed for 1000 years without war! This would simply not be possible if humans were inherently violent. Caral shows us what was once possible, and not only possible, but foundational to the beginnings of civilization. (Riane Eisler writes along very similar lines in her book The Chalice and the Blade).

In the beginning, there was peace! So let's get back to our roots, fellow humans!


Click here to watch the entire PBS/BBC show on YouTube

Cafe 458

I had the privileged of working at Cafe 458 in Atlanta, GA, for three years. Cafe 458 was founded in 1988 and was the first restaurant of its kind in the United states, and remains the only of its kind in Atlanta. The Cafe, a program of Samaritan House of Atlanta, is a restaurant for homeless men and women, serving lunch every weekday.

The idea behind The Cafe was and is simple: offer a good meal in an atmosphere of dignity, respect, and hope. Rather than a soup kitchen (a much needed institution), which might serve 300 meals to 300 people assembly-line style, the Cafe has always been intimate- 30-40 meals a day- with the emphasis on relationships. The Cafe has changed untold lives of homeless men and women, and those of countless volunteers, like myself. Just people sitting down over lunch, talking, building relationships, building trust--nothing too complex. I've heard homeless people say that we at the Cafe were the only people in their lives who would miss them if they weren't seen that day.

For the past several years, Cafe 458 has served a weekend brunch- and now weekend dinner- to paying customers, with all of the proceeds going back into the Samaritan House program. Their brunches have won numerous awards, and the Cafe recently underwent a makeover courtesy of
Turner Broadcasting's Movie and a Makeover. They've even got a Facebook page!

Go volunteer, it might change your life.

Donald Miller, Part I

In Donald Miller, I see one of the greatest lights of hope for this country. Hyperbole? Yes, but only slightly.

For those of you unfamiliar with Donald Miller, you should be. He is a writer and a progressive evangelical Christian (they do exist!). He is part of what is called the emerging church, or the emergent church. Those terms are lower case, b/c "it" is not so much a defined "thing" or "movement," but rather a call for the church to reexamine itself on many fronts. I first read about Miller in his book Blue Like Jazz (NY Times Bestseller), and he's amazing. More about Miller himself in Part II.

I find great hope in the emerging church as an evangelical movement as it is breaking the monopoly that the Political Right has, seemingly or not, had on the church over the past years and decades. When the Political Right has talked about being societal issues, it has often talked about being "pro-life", and yet has done little concerning poverty, environmental, and social justice issues--all issues very much about life. The emerging church sees life before birth, after death, and all points in between as inextricably related. How refreshing!

I think Miller's blog entry below on his biblical reasons for supporting Barack Obama is exactly why I find hope in Miller and the emerging church. Miller led a prayer at the Democratic National Convention and is active on the campaign trail in support of Obama.

Miller's Blog

Brother Roger and the Community of Taize

Taize is a ecumenical Christian community in Burgundy, France. The community has hosted hundreds of thousands of visitors/pilgrims over the past half century, many of whom are young people from around Europe and the world. I was there a few years ago with 4000 Dutch high schoolers--Geveldig!!!

The community was founded by Brother Roger (below), a Swiss-born Protestant pastor, in the 1944s. In 1940, Brother Roger rode a bicycle from Switzerland to Taize, where he took part in smuggling Jews out of neighboring Germany. When he later founded the community, the idea was that it would be a place of simplicity and reconciliation. The tens of thousands of young people who visit Taize each year live together, eat together, and sing and worship together. There's really not much more to it than that. Meals are simple (e.g., breakfast=hot chocolate, bread and fruit) and the music is simple.This simplicity is what strikes me as so hopeful. Brother Roger didn't set out to change the world, start a "movement," or reform the church. He just started small to live in proper relationship with others, with a few monastic brothers, and out of his vision came a monastic community of over 100 brothers, a hospitality ministry to thousands upon thousands of pilgrims, yearly youth meetings across the globe (this year is Brussels and Nairobi), and a meditative style of worship that has spread far and wide.

Watch a video about Taize

Hear Some Taize music

Mary Oliver, Part I, Wild Geese

I don't read poetry often, but my favorite poet is Mary Oliver, based mostly on her poem Wild Geese. Read it out loud, to yourself, to loved ones, to your kids. I've cried after reading just the first line.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.