Falling apart

There are certain truths in life that one can only deny for so long. Sometimes, these truths are overshadowed by little axioms that are meant to keep us going, to prolong the inevitable. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". "What they don't know won't hurt them". "No pain, no gain". "I'm not old, I'm just experienced". Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these little sayings only go so far. Three examples from my life right now. All three of which have to do in some way with my favorite pasttime: the bike. First off, I've got a bit of a cold. I've had the sniffles for a while and fought off a head cold about a month ago, but something's back or something new has come in and made its home in the back of my throat and nasal passage. Yuck. Where this affects my bike riding is that you aren't supposed to train through sickness. Long term, it could hinder your progress and take you out of shape, making it harder to get back into shape. Seeing as how I'm in pretty good shape right now, this is a disappointment. Secondly, and this goes along with axioms 1 and 3 above ("If it ain't broke...", and "No pain...blah, blah, blah"), I think I have an overuse injury, but it's not in my legs or feet, but in my hand. Now, hands are important in cycling. They steer and shift the gears on the bike (duh, Joe). Ok, but here also, I run into a problem of ignoring a minor problem now and it hurting me more later. When it's time to get out and ride with the group, if I can't steer well, I lose friends in a BIG hurry. Thirdly, and this is probably the most minor gripe, but still important, is the fact that I've only bought one new pair of shorts in the last 2 years and the ones in my rotation are wearing out at a pretty fast pace. This may not seem like a big problem to most but let me introduce you to a term that should clear things right up when talking about bike shorts showing their age: SADDLE SORES! (Yeah, I thought that would do the trick!) So, I guess I'm taking a bit of a break now to see how things heal up. Hopefully within a few days, my hands, nose, and bum will be ready to get into the meat of the training season with the rest of my body.

Proverbs 18:7 says, "A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul". Ok, today we're back talking about the fool again. I hope that we are getting the idea that wisdom is so incredibly important for us to have and to do well in this world. Fools abound. Some hide it better than others. Some seem less foolish because other fools follow and buy in to their "advanced foolishness", such as movie stars and most pop psychology that you'll find on talk shows and magazine racks. Anyways, fools' mouths are what most often get them into trouble. It says elsewhere in Proverbs that if a fool keeps his mouth shut, even he will seem wise! In our church, we have a great deal of sportsmen of all stripes. Tom has done an aweful lot of trapping in recent years and I've gotten to see some of the traps and even some of the fruits of his labor (most recently, a beaver who was damming up some pond property). These traps are set and baited in strategic places for the desired catch. When the intended comes along and takes the bait, the snare, when touched, will catch and hold the animal in the trap. Where this applies to our fool friend is that his lips, the very mouth on his face, is his snare! When that thing comes open, he becomes trapped by his foolish words. His soul is in danger because of his foolishness. Look at this fella and learn. His life is a good example of what not to do and say! Be wise and don't set a trap for yourself by your words.

Saturday Feb. 26 People of Prayer @ 6:00 pm.
Sign up for these two events:
Jr. High Retreat @ Camp Illiana, March 18-19, $18; Sign up by March 13.
Sr. High Spring Retreat @ Johnson Bible College, March 31-April 2, $30+; Sign up by March 20.

Later...