Pre-Thang: 4 PAX arrived at 6:00 for a pre-thang run. Crab Legs, Da Parish, Rudy and Tool enjoyed a 2.5 mile run around the Big Lake and the Lagoon in early morning. Da Parish then departed to be with his friend in time of need. Godspeed, Da Parish.
The PAX gathered around the VSF as the clock ticked towards 6:30. At 6:29, Tool asks Quick Draw what’s in store for the PAX. Alas, Quick Draw responded with a blank stare and a “What, Who Me?” look. So the PAX together decide on the most fearsome type of morning workout: the rotating Q.
Rudy: First up, for the warm up, Rudy leads PAX over to the great lawn.
SSH x30
IW x30
Smurf Jacks x20
Peter Parker x30
Smurf Jacks x15
Plank Jacks x30
Smurf Jacks x10
Parker Peter x40
Smurf Jacks x10
Quads are now feeling nice and warmed up.
Walleye: Walleye jumps up, making some comment about how Rudy must be feeling angry. So how about some Dora? Partner up. 1 PAX exercise, other PAX sprint across the lawn and back. Flapjack.
Merkin x100
Squat x200
LBC x300
Bogey: Bogey decides to stop singing for a while and toss out a new preposterous exercise – something like a 4-corner-ladder-8-count-body-builder on the great lawn. YHC hopes this one does not make a return appearance.
5 8-county-body-builders in corner 1. Run to corner 2.
10 8CBB in corner 2. Run to corner 3.
15 8CBB in corner 3. Run to corner 4.
20 8CBB in corner 4. Run back to corner 1.
Plank and wait for YHC….
Water break time…
Douille: Mosey to the NOMA fountain
Tatum Channing x25
Dips x20
Channing Tatum x25
Derkins x15
Quick Draw: Over to the lawn for some Mary (and some ants)
V-up and hold
Flutter Kicks
Something else
Tool: Mosey back to the great lawn for planks (high, left arm, reverse, right arm, high). Then mosey back to the VSF for announcements (no CSAUPs on the schedule – we’ll have to get something organized soon!) and naming of our FNG – thanks for EH’ing him, Cupcake! Bogey took us home with our prayer.
What time is it? SHOW TIME! YHC had pondered a workout based around Hamilton, ever since his 2.0 introduced the soundtrack to him a year ago. Finally – the time had come. I pity the PAX – what could improve the heat and humidity of a summer NOLA morning besides the glorious sounds of show tunes reverberating through the air? Who wouldn’t want to start their day with a little singing and dancing?
Start with a disclaimer, and fair warning to the PAX that this workout might be messy. Then we mosey to the Great Lawn.
Alexander Hamilton: Open the day with the intro to Hamilton and spelling it all out. First challenge of the workout – YHC’s speaker was not nearly loud enough. This will be corrected for the next show tunes workout.
Outlaw (new to NOLA pax – legs together, draw a big O) x10 each direction
Nolan Ryan x10 each side
Aaron Burr, Sir: 2:36 duration. What else starts with “Burr”? Why Burr-pees of course. OYO, Burpees for the duration of the song. Go. “What time is it? SHOW TIME!”
At this point, YHC encountered an unexpected challenge. Mud, grass and dew from the burpees made accessing and controlling the phone darn near impossible. Moments of panic – “What now? How will I play my sing-along songs for everyone?” But in my moment of deepest and darkest despair, my phone suddenly began responding to my frantic gestures. Whew, crisis averted.
Non Stop: Alexander Hamilton, famous for non-stop work (check his Federalist Papers work). Pax to replicate with non-stop activity for the 6:30 duration.
Suicides out-and-back to the first 3 palm trees
Peter Parker x10, Plank Jack x10, Parker Peter x10
Pax 1: Bear Crawl to the 2nd Palm. Crawl Bear back.
Pax 2: Lunges (go deep!)
Flapjack
Repeat with Crab Walk out, Walk Crab back.
Repeat with Duck Walk out, Walk Duck back.
Note: YHC had never tried Walk Duck before. It kinda sucks. In a good way.
Mosey to the Baby Foundry for the Revolutionary War re-enactment.
Guns and Ships and Yorktown: On morning reconnaissance run, YHC saw a collection of wooden pallets next to baby foundry. Perfect. On arrival at the foundry, send PAX over to collect 5 of them. PAX will use this time to work on their own Guns.
Pull Ups x5
Pallet Curls x10 (There was quite a difference in weight between the Oak and Pine pallets…)
Mericans x15
Rinse and Repeat. OYO. Until the 2 songs end (6:30)
Return the pallets
Mosey to the corner wall by the sculpture garden
Cabinet Battle #1: Partner up for the battle between Jefferson and Hamilton over the role of the federal treasury.
Pax 1 (Jefferson): Plank
Pax 2 (Hamilton): Feet on the butt of Jefferson, Dips x15
Flapjack. Repeat. Until Washington takes Jefferson aside to tell him to either get the votes, or lose his job.
NOTE: Next time, YHC will look for a partner a wee bit smaller than Quick Draw.
Mosey back to the Great Lawn. We have time for one more exercise. DaParish gets to choose which song. He goes with:
Election of 1800: Squats x18, Lunge x18, Squat Jumps x18. Repeat for the 4:00 duration of the song. (Alternative was My Shot with the Okwata “Two shots at the Bar” jack webbs. Next time…. And we never got to the Duel either!)
With that, our hour reprise of Hamilton, The Musical is done. Mosey back to the flags for count-off (19 PAX, alas one early departure by Hawg), name-o-rama and naming our FNG (welcome to F3 Gilligan!) followed by announcements
Triathalon coming up – talk to DaParish if interested
Training towards Rock and Roll Marathon in February – talk to Rudy if interested
Several intentions, including those who are sick (Maverick’s uncle, FracSac’s dad, Rudy’s friend’s daughter). As always, I am extremely grateful for the friendships I have made with my fellow F3 brothers. I hope to use the inspiration they offer me as an example to help me lead a life that may offer inspiration to others.
10 of us settled in at Morning Call for coffee and camaraderie. Lots of great ideas about how to continue spreading the mission of F3 through several different venues in the NOLA area. Here’s looking at you, Jadaveon!
Thank you for letting me lead, and thank you for humoring me in my attempts to try something different with my Qs. I hope you enjoyed it – even if your enjoyment came from heckling and mocking your Q. Offer your suggestions for show-tunes workouts in the comments. I know DaParish wants to see Wicked…
The night was hot and humid and dark. By 8:45, lots of PAX and a few coolers started rolling in (thanks Brown Bag!). Uptowners, Mid-city denizens, a clown car from the Northshore and a lone rep from Destrehan. All gathered to see who would hoist the coveted Gnarly Nutria trophy for 2017. Could the influx of young guns in Uptown be enough to hold off the growing World presence? Could anyone or anything stop the unstoppable force called TurboTax? Would Da Parish show up in running clothes or spandex cycle suit?
But first, Yankee gave his best Amnesty impersonation with a 10 minute disclaimer, attempting to explain the overly complex uptowner scoring system (and thanks to Quick Draw and his daughter Katie for taking on the scoring duties).
Finally – its time to line up under the first lightpost, and Yankee mumbles a “ok, lets go” under his breath. Slowly the group of confused PAX begin to move, before the front runners (TurboTax, Barcrawl and the soon-to-be-appropriately-named FNG Ringer that the Uptowners recruited just for this event) took off.
3 laps in the humidity. Yuck. YHC enjoyed the run with SOGO, Butt Splice and Hawg. Great conversations, even as they all passed me by as the humidity and fast out-the-gate pace took its toll. Meanwhile, out in front, Cowbell took care of some competition by gently nudging last year’s winner, Nip/Tuck, off the path and out of the race. Sayonara, Nip/Tuck. Hope you learned a valuable lesson – watch your back.
Final Standings:
Place
Name
Where
Laps
Place Points
Total Points
1
Barcrawl
Uptown
3
35
38
2
Ringer
Uptown
3
34
37
3
Turbo
Northshore
3
33
36
4
Mulligan
Uptown
3
32
35
5
YSR
Uptown
3
31
34
6
Cowbell
MidCity
3
30
33
7
Jadaveon
Uptown
3
29
32
8
Sogo
MidCity
3
28
31
9
Hawg
MidCity
3
27
30
10
Rudy
MidCity
3
26
29
11
Butt Splice
Northshore
3
25
28
12
Shorty
MidCity
3
24
27
13
EIEI
Northshore
3
23
26
14
Landing Strip
Uptown
3
22
25
15
Sandbar
Uptown
3
21
24
16
Revit
Uptown
3
20
23
17
Brownbag
Uptown
3
19
22
18
Walleye
MidCity
3
18
21
19
Roots
Uptown
3
17
20
20
Triple Shift
MidCity
3
16
19
21
Stub Hub
MidCity
3
15
18
22
Tool
MidCity
3
14
17
23
Reverend
Uptown
3
13
16
24
Hasselhoff
Uptown
3
12
15
25
Buckle Bunny
Uptown
3
11
14
26
Ocho
Northshore
3
10
13
27
FracSac
MidCity
3
9
12
28
Joe Dirt
Destrehan
3
8
11
29
Da Parish
MidCity
3
7
10
30
Yankee
Uptown
3
6
9
31
Colonel
Uptown
3
5
8
32
Splash
Uptown
2
0
2
32
Whoop
Uptown
2
0
2
32
Seaman
Uptown
2
0
2
32
Milkman
MidCity
2
0
2
32
Nip/Tuck
Uptown
2
0
2
Uptowners led the way, taking 5 of the top 7 spots. Kudos to Barcrawl on his victory. And welcome to F3 Ringer!
The final tally: The World: 363 (249 from MidCity, 103 from the NorthShore and 11 from Destrehan) Uptown: 360 A final difference of 3 points.
Participants
Total Laps
Place Points
TOTAL
Uptown
19
53
307
360
MidCity
12
35
214
249
Northshore
4
12
91
103
Destrehan
1
3
8
11
World
17
50
313
363
Finished with our Countoff, Name-o-rama (was there ever a doubt on the name of our FNG) and a prayer. Then dive back into the coolers (thank you again Brown Bag) to grab a cold one (YHC was very very pleasantly suprised with the Mango IPA), and enjoyedanother hour of F2.
Kudos to the few, the proud, the strong who made the follow on Thursday am post: FracSac, Cowbell, DaParish, Milkman, Butt Splice, Ocho (Hrm… What do they all have in common? Oh yeah – THE WORLD!)
Front blew through last night, bringing with it a bit of a break from the summer humidity. Perhaps even a hint of briskness in the air. At the stop light on the drive to Rock City this am, I checked the Q sheet. “Oh great, I better think of something.” Shorty’s name was on the list, and we all know what that means….
5:30am comes, 9 PAX gathered around the flag. Tool decides to give us a moment to gather our thoughts on what to do next – so he bellows “10 Burpees On Your Own. Exercise.” Great, YHC thinks. Because I can always think better while burpee-ing. But with 10 Burpees under our belt, YHC leads the PAX on a mosey to the rockpile.
COP 1: Get the blood flowing:
Windmills x15
Arm Circles x15 each way
Imperial Squat Walkers x20
Plank-o-rama with Plank Walks, Plank Jacks, Peter Parkers and Mountain Climbers
Over to the rock pile to find your friend. Then Mosey to the playground.
COP 2: Audible! On the way to the playground, YHC sees the gate to the tennis courts. I’d often wondered where the gate was, but never actually looked for it. But lo’ and behold, there it was – calling us. So – head to the tennis courts! Everyone plank-up while YHC tries to figure out what we’ll actually do here…
Aha – Four Corners! Pax split into 4 groups and take their rocks to a corner. The rocks will stay put, while the pax mosey. 20x of exercise at each corner.
Corner 1: Bench Press. Then Bear Crawl to….
Corner 2: Shoulder Press. Then Crab Walk to…..
Corner 3: Curls. Then Lunge Walk to….
Corner 4: Rows. Then Duck Walk back to corner 1.
Fortunately for PAX, KimChi and TripleShift decided to bring their mammoth boulders to Corner 1. I don’t think they would have worked nearly as well at, say, Corner 2.
We got through 2 cycles. Then PAX were calling out for more, so 1 more time round the circle!
Gather up rocks and leave the tennis courts.
COP 3: Time enough for some pull up work. Pax split into 3 groups:
Group 1: Pull-ups AMRAP
Group 2: Dips AMRAP
Group 3: The timer: a lap around the track.
Side note: its pretty impressive to watch Babyface knock those pull-ups out. Wow. Nice work!
One cycle through. Just enough time to get rocks back to their beds, and mosey back to the flag.
Count-off, Name-o-rama. Circle up for our prayers: thankfulness for our blessings, remembering those facing sickness – especially FracSac. Prayers for the Cheech’s family, and all of those impacted by that tragedy. Close with St. Ignatius Loyola’s Prayer for Generosity.
Thanks for letting me lead, and thanks for patience while I tried to figure out something new for us to try. Now that I know where the gate to the tennis court is, I think that may start taking a larger role in the RockCity workout.
YHC was hoping for a particularly gloomy morning at Okwata this morning: more rain, more wind, more muck. But alas, just a usual amount of Humidity, Winds and Mud. 5 PAX braved the hyperbole of the regional and national weather forecasters to start the day right.
COP 1: Through the mud puddles to the top of the levee. Line up looking out over the lake.
SSH x25
IW x25
Low Slow Squats x25
Monkey Humpers x25
Smurf Jacks x25
Yes, it’s gonna be leg day.
COP 2: Ladder Blimps.
5 Burpees, run up the levee and back down
5B, 10 Lunges, up the levee and down
5B, 10L, 15 Imperial Walkers, up and down
5B, 10L, 15I, 20 Mericans, up and down
5B, 10L, 15I, 20M, 25 Plank Jacks, up and down
5B, 10L, 15I, 20M, 25P, 30 Low Slow Squats
up and down and up and down waiting for the 6
COP 3: Top of the levee for a Hawg Favorite: Quadrophillia. 4 Minutes of down and up the levee – always facing the lake. Down forwards, Up backwards. Quads feeling it…
COP 4: House of Pain. 5 of us, so 5 stations:
Backwards up the levee, 5 burpees, back down the levee to the house (Timer)
Alternating Step Ups AMRAP
Dips AMRAP
Monkey Humpers AMRAP
Pull Ups AMRAP
Got through 2 cycles before time called us back to the VSF.
COP 5: Wouldn’t be a Rudy workout without Plank-o-rama. Note to self: its a lot harder doing this at the end of the workout than at the beginning.
Peter Parker x25
Plank Jacks x25
Parker Peter x25
Mountain Climber x10 (Q was gassed)
Close with 10 Burpees OYO to bring our PAX total to 250 for the day.
Finish with prayers, in particular remembering Cheech from Lexington – RIP. Reminder to all of us to both be careful and alert during our exercises – especially when crossing streets; and also to always live our lives in preparation for our return to the Sky Q, as we do not know the day he will call upon us.
Sitting at the railroad tracks in the light drizzle, waiting for the train to pass, YHC pondered whether any of the ruckers would make an appearance, or whether they were all still in recovery mode. Staring at his watch as the train ground to a halt, YHC began to wonder whether he would make an appearance. Time for an audible – head to back gate and park, for a fast jog across the park arriving at 5:27. And what was waiting YHC? An empty field…. Just the raindrops to keep me company.
But lo and behold, cresting the levee – Duct Tape making his triumphant return! Welcome back, Kotter! Word had it that others were still stuck at the railroad tracks, so the 3 on-time PAX (including one FNG EH’d by those still at the tracks) planked up to wait. And wait, while Amnesty made his appearance, and oh-so-gingerly pulled his glow-yellow gloves on to protect his delicate fingers.
Then the disclaimer, a bit of background on F3 for our FNG, and off to the quarry.
COP #1:
SSH x25
DQ x15
IW x25
PP x25
MC x25
Go find a friend
COP #2: Find something resembling dry ground. YHC waited while some PAX floundered and appeared to struggle with basic instructions. Once situated, lets get to work
Shoulder Press
Curl
Row
Squat
First round x12. Then x10. Then x8. Then x6. Tool ventured a guess as to what was coming next. x4 and x2.
COP #3: Mosey to the bandstand. The rain had now stopped, so we were no longer in need of that protection. But YHC was trying to be thoughtful for the PAX.
Tatum Channing
Dip
Channing Tatum
Incline Merican
First round x15. Then x10. Then x5.
Bring our friends home, and mosey back the VSF.
COP #5: Finish up with some Mary
LBC x31
Penguin x20
Hip dip thingies – I’m sure they have a name – x10 each side
American Hammer x20
Plan for a minute
Finish with countoff and naming of the FNG (Milkman, in honor of The Dead Milkmen song celebrating the car of FNG’s youth). Announcements (struggled to find something to talk about, as the Ruck and Summer Series are both in rear view mirror now – but up next Spillway Classic).
Finished with prayer of thanksgiving and asking for blessing of God’s grace to use the gift of today wisely.
YHC is very thankful for the men this am. In the few minutes while I pondered the workout alone, I honestly thought about turning and heading for home. Would I have the perseverance to do this on my own? I doubt it. I remain thankful for the gift of all of you, helping to inspire me to do more than I think I can.
Summertime humidity is definitely here. Quite a change from last week, with delightful cool dry air. Today, our faithful PAX are greeted by the heavy, damp summer New Orleans air. YHC arrived early to show off his new bright green leprechaun socks (thanks to 2.0 returning from school for the summer). The socks definitely matched the traditional neon yellow shoes. PAX should expect to see more of them. 6:30, issue a disclaimer and 10 PAX are off to the races.
COP #1: Great lawn to get the blood flowing
SSH x25
IW x25
Slow Windmills x12
Plank-o-Rama time. Repeat exercises staying in plank position in between (could PAX identify how the pattern coincided with the date? Shorty apparently couldn’t).
5 Muricans, 20 Peter Parker
5 Muricans, 20 Mountain Climbers
5 Muricans, 20 Parker Peter
5 Muricans, 20 Plank Jacks
Recover to your feet. Much to his surprise, YHC now counts 11 PAX. Welcome aboard Bongo! And lo and behold, Hawg now appears, having apparently decided to pulled a Spicey (hiding in the bushes). So 12 PAX mosey on to the next stop
COP #2: Foundry. Partner up for 6 stations
Bobby Hurley x20 (timer)
Pull Ups
Lunges
Rows
Hanging Knee Lift
Muricans
Repeat for 2 rounds. Mosey to the water fountain then on to the next stop
COP #3: Field. Line up at the end line of the soccer field for the Red Barchetta (yes, that does exist – its in the the F3 Lexicon – and thanks to Bongo, who actually knew the words).
Sprint to the far end, 100x SSH, Sprint back. Plank for the 6
Sprint to the 3/4 mark, 75x MC, Sprint back. Plank for the 6
Sprint to the 1/2 mark, 50x LBC, Sprint back. Plank for the 6
Sprint to the 1/4 mark, 25x Muricans, Sprint back. Plank for the 6
15x Bobby Hurley, just because
(At this point, Shorty asks “Just who is Bobby Hurley?” Dang millenials. Fortunately, Hawg uses the next mosey time to edu-ma-cate him).
YHC can only gape in amazement at the silent killer otherwise known as 86. He says nothing. NOTHING. Quiet as a mouse. Yet he smokes the entire field, appearing not to even break a sweat. YHC goal for remainder of 2017: Q a workout that causes 86 to at least breathe hard.
COP #4: Four Square. In the field (where the Children’s Museum will be soon), identify four trees that roughly make a square (and yes, a square is a type of a polygon).
Tree 1: 10x Bobby Hurley
Tree 2: 10x BH, 20x Muricans
Tree 3: 10x BH, 20x Muricans, 30x Lunge
Tree 4: 10x BH, 20x Muricans, 30x Lunge, 40x Peter Parker
COP #5: Mosey back to the great lawn, with a stop by the Tool Wall
Calf Raise x25
Monkey Humper x25
Calf Raise x25
Monkey Humper x25
Then back to the Great Lawn for a 90 second Elbow Plank to get us to 7:30.
Had I realized we finished with 95 BH, I would have added 5 more. Darn it…..
Back to the flag for count off, name-o-rama, Announcements (2018 Barathon is in 365 days, look for registration information soon); Grumbles about an 8am convergence workout on ruck day, reminder to consider donating to help offset costs of our Summer Series sponsorship (https://www.gofundme.com/f3-nola-race-sponsorship-collection – any amount is welcome).
Close with a prayer of thanksgiving, and asking for blessings on those facing, and helping others face illnesses. As always, we particularly ask for Sky Q’s continued blessings upon Tool and his family.
It had been many weeks since YHC had been to Rock City. I felt lost, wandering around the briar patch (i mean grass field). Would I remember where the rocks were? Would I remember how to count cadences? Would Bogey show up to mock me with his singing? Slowly the usual gang of suspects began to make their appearance (though still no Marlin, perhaps the chill in the air is still too much for him). Lo and behold – even a Flag! Disclaimer, and off to the track.
COP #1: Mosey towards the rocks, to the usual flatlands next to the track.
SSH x25
Windmills x15
IW x25
Plank up for: Peter Parker, Mountain Climber, Parker Peter each x25
1:00 elbow plank
Go find a friend in the rock pile
COP #2: Mosey 50 feet to another flatlands, which apparently the mosquitos have chosen to turn into their summer home.
Shoulder Press x10
Curl x10
Row x10
On your back, doesn’t that cool dew feel good? Bench press x15
Repeat 2 more times.
COP #3: YHC was momentarily at a loss. The plans to follow Oak Alley from the running track towards the parking lot were thwarted by the baseball field that YHC did not recall being there before. What to do, what to do… YHC was stuck and befuddled. Fortunately, KimChi came to the rescue – “Uh, we could just go the other way”. THANK YOU KIMCHI!
Line up at the first tree for BLIMPS with your rocks. After each exercise, head on to the next tree for the next exercise. Use your rocks!
COP #4: Well well, we ended the BLIMPS run next to the picnic tables. So lets head over there next
Channing Tatum x20, Dips x15, Tatum Channing x20
Peoples Chair over at the shed with a few curls and shoulder presses tossed in.
Channing Tatum x20, Dips x15, Tatum Channing x20
COP #5: Need to get the rocks home – following the path that brought us here, BLIMPS again along the trees back to home.
Drop the rocks off, sprint back to the flag and hold an elbow plank for the final 1:30.
Count-off, Name-o-Rama, Announcements (something about a ruck, I guess) and Prayers.
YHC’s father turns 77 today. I ask God for a portion of the wisdom of my father, and the ability to be an inspiration and a guide for my children as he has been for me.
Glorious morning on the lakefront, summer humidity is starting to make its presence known. Pulled in alongside the parked and running cars holding other PAX just waiting to get started. Yup, that’s Shorty’s car. And Cowbell. And ….. Um, no driver in that one. No PAX either. Just a ghost car, idling and waiting for godot, I guess. YHC happy to return to the site of his last real F3 workout 7 weeks ago. But then who appears next in the gloom but The Culprit. YHC stared (perhaps glared) at Triple Shift, and covered up his pinky in instinctive defense mode.
Quick disclaimer as JV told us time was a-wastin’. And then we were off.
Jacks COP: Mosey towards the levee to start off with some Jacks
SSH x25
Seal Jacks x25
Smurf Jacks (aka Cowbells) x20
Plank Jacks x25
1:00 Elbow Plank
40: 40 times over the levee. 10 exercises, each done in 4 sets of 10 reps. Over the levee for set 1. Back over for set 2. Back over for set 3. Back over for set 4. After set 4, continue the exercise until the 6 finishes.
Lunges
Box Cutters
XFit Muricans
Mountain Climbers
Bobby Hurleys (coupled with the levee climbs, these sucked)
Half way. Break for 30 count from Cowbell, then a 1:00 Elbow Plank. Then continue…
Russian Twists
Muricans
Low Slow Squats
Peter Parkers
Dr. W (YHC was gassed, and my form stunk. Triple Shift showed up every one as he maintained that pristine form through the end)
6:15 on the nose, so back to the VSF for count-off, name-o-rama, and close with a prayer.
Great to be back out at it with the group. I thought 6 weeks of running would have kept me in good shape, but there’s a big difference between the running and Levee Running. Looking forward to being back in the saddle again!
Beautiful moring in the gloom. Low Humidity, Low 60s. Best time of the year, in YHC’s humble opinion. Enjoy now, the summer humidity will be here soon enough. The Ruckers made an early morning appearance, followed by the Runners at the normal 530 start time.
The Ruckers: 3.5 miles along the usual bayou route covered in 1 hour.
The Runners: 5 miles along the usual bayou route covered in 45 minutes. YHC cannot answer questions about what the Ruckers discussed during their stroll, but YHC can say he greatly enjoyed the company of, and conversation with, Tool.
All gathered again at the VSF for count off, name-o-rama, and ball of man for closing prayer.
As Tool and I ran past the 2 confederate monuments on our morning run, I could not help but reflect on the atmosphere of discord and animosity that seems to be permeating our interactions. Too often, we begin to see the world as “us” and “them”, and ascribe the worst of intentions to people with whom we disagree (“those guys are racists”. “he’s just grandstanding”). Jogging along Jefferson Davis and seeing the barricades intended to separate the two sides in the current dispute with a 10 foot gap between them (a Neutral Ground on the Neutral Ground) emphasized to YHC how awful we can become in our treatment of each other. Whichever side of this issue, or any issue, you find yourself on – always remember that the person you are interacting with is a human being, made in the image of the same Creator as the one I believe made me. How can that person be treated any less respectfully than I would treat my M, my 2.0, my parents, my friends. How can I presume to understand the intentions of that person, or treat his words with less respect than I expect him to treat mine? I must be prepared to disagree and hold firm on my convictions, while finding the patience to be respectful and the openness to hear. And learn. And retain respect for all others and treat with dignity, even when, ESPECIALLY when, I do not receive that dignity and respect in return. And I must encourage that behavior in those around me.
Thanks again for the chance to be a brother of you all.
