August 8, 2010

• Not Your Regular Unleaded Post

  Wow.  If this isn't a drought, I don't know what to call it.  (I don't mean the weather.)

  It's nice to sleep in my own bed again.  I can't deny it.  As much as I love being with other people, and visiting those I love, there's nothing like my own space.  I wish this space was closer to theirs.  In a similar fashion, it's nice to settle back into my Xanga space.  I've been away for a while, off and on.  

  This summer has been...  interesting.  God is teaching me some things, and many of those lessons aren't easy ones.  Well, they seem easy, but the field trips can be rough.  I feel as though this summer has been one long field trip interspersed by surprise field trips.

  Did you know that race cars use some really high-grade, high-octane fuel?  That probably doesn't surprise you.  The grade we normally get at the pump ranges from 87 to 92.  The grade that racers use?  Around 120.  (No, my field trips did not include a trip to the track.)  

  The reason these special cars use special fuel is that higher octane fuel burns slower, yields more power, and is better for the car*.  Cars that are used in this manner typically use "high performance" everything.  Oil, gas, lube...  because if anything fails while you're careening over 300mph around a turn, you're screwed.  It's funny, but it was only recently that I realized that the Indy 500's "500" meant "500 miles."  With the track being about 2.5 miles around, that's 200 laps.  Why anyone would want to watch a bunch of people go around in a circle [sic] 200 times is a different matter; one which happens to escape me completely. Go America.  Anyway, 200 times around a track is crazy.  This isn't short term stuff, if you know what I mean.  

  So why all this talk about cars?  Really, the talk is about fuel.  Because in the end, we're not so different from a racecar (which also happens to be a palindrome: same backwards and forwards.)  I mean, Paul does liken this life to a race, doesn't he?  "Run like you want to win!" (1 Cor 9:24, paraphrased.)  I mean, even human racers (who use their bodies) know about fuel.  They ease down on refined sugar (or try to eliminate it completely), and sometimes even down wheat grass and all sorts of things that we don't typically think of making a part of our diet.  

  We're integrated beings.  We're made of the physical, mental, ad spiritual.  Any one of these fail, they'll impact the other.

  Further, each of these have their own parts; the intake, use, and output.  Physically, we have food/water, digestion, and expulsion.  Mentally, we have knowledge, understanding, and application.  Spiritually, it's not so different.  

  What's your spiritual intake?

  I want to upgrade to high grade spiritual stuff.  I understand now that 'spiritual stuff' isn't just about what book of the Bible I happen to be reading, or what devotional book is good for me at the moment.  Spiritual stuff includes things that impact my spiritual mind.  Entertainment, self-image, sensuality, conversation, etc. all fit into the developing of the spiritual mind.  I desperately crave the high grade stuff.  "Super" fuel at the pump.  You know what I mean?

  Fill it with "super" please.  Who's with me?

   

  *Although high octane fuel is good for racing, most cars in garages nowadays are made for regular fuel.  This is not an endorsement for filling your car tank with Super.  If you think that,  you've missed the point!  :)  Humans, on the other hand, are built to run on the highest grade God-fuel available to mankind.  Don't settle for less.  

  • 10:24 am
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