2nd wind

There is no other sporting event I enjoy more then the Tour de France.  The race is epic and challenging to say the least; it is torture at best.  Through picturesque countryside, riders traverse an entire country in 21 days of racing all by the power of their own two legs.  Wow cannot begin to describe it!

For such a race, there are great stories.  Each day is filled with triumphs, overcoming, Hope and heartbreak.  Similar to the recent soccer world cup, there are rrepresentatives from all over the world.  It is beyond category!
My favorite stories are the ones of courage and passion, or, as the Italians call it, panache!  The days where a rider breaks away from the pack all day and wins the day in front of his compatriots or when a rider finishes the race despite a crash that would put most in the hospital for a month.  The stories of true grit, and never giving up.  Of setting your sights on a goal and reaching it no matter what.
This years tour has been full of such stories.  Even today, Lance Armstrong attempted to win the day by riding over four mountains solo to the finish over one hundred miles.  He did not make it.  However, his effort was valiant and had all the fans reminiscing about his wins just a few years back. 
But it was truly the attempt that took the most courage and gave everyone, especially Lance, a reason to Hope.  This is every bit a parallel to real life.  We are more then halfway through summer.  For many their have been great struggles, beautiful and equally gut wrenching stories, reasons to Hope and reasons to doubt.  Yet it is in the attempt, in the saying "yes", in the moving on, even if that movement is at a crawl; it is in these things that our stories are truly made complete. 
In endurance sports, after the rush and speed of the opening of a race, or a long mountain climb, an athlete is said to get their "second wind".  A rush of adrenaline and strength that leads them to get back in the hunt or otherwise continue on towards the goal. 
My Hope is that,
wherever you are,
 in reality and passion,
in spirit and in truth,
that you are on your second wind, or quickly approaching this renewal, while keeping an iron focus on the goals of Life and Love.
This is not just my Hope, but it is also my belief.  I know that you will find that strength, from deep within, and when you do, know that you are courageous and lovely, a bright spot in a universe that would sometimes seem against all that is good and true.

It may not start with moving all the mountains in your life,
but it may just begin with YOU.

Listen:
josh moore- "too good to be true"

Dedicated to Vino'- for second wind, and second chances...
(photo courtesy of Graham Watson)

companion: part I

Yesterday morning I got up early and prepared for a race, as I have so often over the last five years on a weekend morning when most of my other friends and many people in my age group are still resting quietly in their beds.  Most often these endeavors are to be lived out alone.  Rising, eating, preparing, packing, traveling, warming-up, and racing- all in a solitary state of preparation and focus. 
To go backwards a moment, most of us were involved in sports at one level or another throughout childhood and maybe even high school.  But most often you get to college and post college you drop this type of activity all together.  Not only is this NO good for your physical body but also for the mental and relational side of you as well.  This is yet another reason why endurance sports, such as bike racing, triathlon and running are so cool.  Often times you can have a seventy year old running enthusiast, just happy to finish the race in one piece, toeing the start line with a twenty-one year old collegiate track star who wants to set the course record.  As aforementioned, much of endurance sport time, spent prepping, training and racing, is spent alone; yet it is the time after the dust has settled, the gathering for snacks and awards, the sharing of battle stories, the comfort of family and friends, that we are most happy and even if we have a bad result in an event, all the struggle and strain of the days efforts and washed away, by the smile of a girlfriend or the pat on the back of an old coach...
  Yesterday I had the opportunity to share my passion and the morning's event with my friend Hari.  Not only was this extra inspiration on a chilly and wet morning, but it just made for a better overall experience.  He encouraged me, before and after the race, helped me double check if I had everything I needed, and even held my coat while I raced off into the forest.
  The last few weeks I have thought so much about companions and companionship; and the company we keep.  I have had all sorts of companions, from friends to family, those whom I share laughs with, those who laugh at me, a chance at romance, and a hint of what loving a friend, through thick and thin, is all about.  How blessed I am to have such AMAZING companions to share this life with; and how further magnificent it is to have such different and unique individuals who not only tolerate, but, somehow believe in me, and I in them. 
My prayer for this post is as follows:
That for everyone who reads this, for everyone who is friends with them, for all the people I have a chance to come in contact with, for everyone I have yet to meet:
That you might, by the grace of all things infinite and the imperfection of this planet, seek and be sought, in the companionship of faith, Hope and Love, in friendship, brotherhood, sisterhood and romance, All the days of your life-
for this life is meant to be lived out with one another, because, it is with one another we may truly live.

Even God desires companionship!  (Jesus, the Father, and the spirit- makes three)-

Two song lines have re-occurred to me over and over again corresponding to the above thoughts:

"I'd rather get lost with YOU instead" Mat Kearney [all i have]

                                                and

"Oh my love, won't you sing ALONG?"  [how the day sounds] Greg Laswell