Beyond Belief

I pull up yahoo.com this morning in order the check my e-mail and the headline that is staring at me is " Evangelist's invitation stirs controversy" . A watchdog group is objecting to Franklin Graham coming to speak at the National Day of Prayer event at the pentagon because his past description of Islam as "evil" is offensive.

Sort of makes sense doesn't it? I mean we have a president who bows to the Saudi king, he shakes hands with Chavez. He has well documented ties to anti-american anti-Semitic terrorist like Rashid Khalidi, Ali Abunimah, Bill Ayers , Bernardine Dohrn, the Rev. Bill Wright. Also, lets not forget that when Netanyahu came to visit the white house the president would not allow them to be photographed together. I think we all know that while he might not say it out loud Obama is a little offended by the fact that someone like Franklin Graham has been invited to speak at the pentagon.

The story only gets scarier as you keep reading. Weinstein the head of the watchdog group that is objecting to Graham goes on to stay that he objects to the pentagon working with the National Day of Prayer task force. He said that he doesn't object to a national day of prayer he just doesn't want them to endorse the task force because they organize "Christian events" for the day and that is preferential treatment.

A federal judge in Wisconsin agrees. She called the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional because it "amounts to a call for religious action". She did postpone enforcement of the decision until all appeals are exhausted.

Phew *breathes sigh of relief*. Well I guess that last part is good news. I guess at least THIS year I can still gather at my local Christian school or church for a National Day of Prayer without being shut down. My church can hand out brochures about the day without being in fear of losing their tax-exempt status....for now.

You know in an attempt to be fair and balanced lets look at this from the other sides point of view for a minute. Imagine how relieved they are. I mean after all these years of being brow beaten and forced to participate in something that they didn't want to participate in, now they have been offered the religious freedom to do .......what they always had the right to do.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

part of the journey

I am taking a break from exercising. Starting this morning. When else would you start this kind of 'diet' if not on a Monday morning? My leg is not getting better. After finally going for an MRI it was diagnosed as a stress fracture. However, even as a stress fracture and not shin splints it should be almost completely healed by now and it's not. Since going to the Dr. almost two months ago I have for the most part done no running of any kind, but I've done the elliptical, and swimming, and biking, and weight training. I have honestly spent no less time exercising than I did before I've just avoided running (for the most part ;-) ). Did I mention the leg is not really showing many signs of healing?

I actually came to this conclusion Thursday night after talking to a close friend of mine. I was in a lot of pain, and very frustrated that this long after my original injury I was still dealing with this much pain so I realized I needed to do something more drastic, I was going to have to actually rest the leg. As if to verify my decision I woke up Friday morning to my leg actually in fairly painful spasms. Sooo I did what any rational person would do. I got up, put a phone call in to my physical therapist put on my sweats and tank top, laced up my sneakers and headed to the gym. Actually had to cut my work out short by about half an hour because after an hour on the elliptical, I was having a hard time putting any weight on my right leg during my upper body workout.

That night I mentioned to two of the people closest to me that I had come to the conclusion that this was a spiritual battle. God was trying to teach me something, there was a reason why He had taken running away from me and I was not going to learn it by replacing it with other exercises I was going to have to take a serious step back. That night the decision did not seem like a hard one as I laid in bed icing my leg with tears pouring down my face from the pain. So the next morning I did what any rational human being would do. I got up put, on my helmet and gloves, laced up my sneakers and headed off for a 20 mile bike ride. To be fair by that point I had decided that it made the most sense to start the 'fast' on Monday.

Yesterday morning on my bike ride (yes I biked again...but again I had decided to start on Monday so it really did make sense...honest). I spent most of the time trying to 'convince' God that I didn't really need the time off and if He would just heal my leg I was pretty certain that I could learn what it was He was trying to teach me while still exercising and running. He wasn't buying it.

I am planning to spend this time as a fast of sorts. The time that I would have spent working out I am going to focus on spending with God. I'll probably have more time to blog since I usually spend as much time at the gym as most people spend on a part time job. So lets see what He is trying to teach me!