breathe regularly

my discipleship group is doing a triathlon together in may. we talked about it tonight around the dinner table. we're probably going to break up into 3 teams of 3 people. that means, on each team, one person will swim, one will bike, and one will run. i'm going to be a swimmer.

i've done a couple triathlons before and i love them. what a monumental challenge. from a physical standpoint, it works pretty much the entire body. your muscles are built up, stretched, broken down, and built up again until you peak on race day. mentally, you have to convince yourself that the training is worth the end result. training is tough, and takes some discipline, but the high of crossing the finish line with my hands up in the air and the crowd cheering is one of the best all-around emotions i've ever felt.

then there's the spiritual side of it. the apostle paul wrote a lot about that in his letters. that is, about athletes competing in races. i didn't really get the connection until i competed.

tonight around the dinner table i made the comment, "the hardest part about swimming is breathing." it sounded rather elementary, i admit, and i got some awkward glances at the time, but i was serious. you can swim a long way if you know when and how to breath.

stroke, stroke, breathe.....stroke, stroke, breathe.....stroke, stroke, breathe

that's bilateral swimming. you stroke with your right, stroke with your left, breathe on your right side as you stroke with your right again. then you stroke with your left, stroke with your right, and then breathe on your left side as you stroke with your left. repeat. get it?

later on, someone else connected the comment spiritually. he said, "what a great word-picture." the essence is this: we're in this pool (culture), trying to be Christ's tools; He's using us to redeem culture, and the hardest part about swimming in this pool is breathing--making sure we regularly and repeatedly come up for the fresh, clean, pure air of God's presence that allows us to keep swimming.

i loved the image. i know the agony of being underwater, pushing through the current as hard as i can, and skipping a crucial breath. it hurts. and what's worse, i have to slow down--maybe stop--as my lungs squeeze out their last. going vertical in the water, i gasp deeply for air. i also know the spiritual agony of pushing full speed, only to run out of breath and need a huge gasp.

not only does it hurt, it is highly inefficient and ineffective. it's an encouragement to me to maintain a rhythmic, regular time with God. so i share it with you.