THE FINISH LINE

Have you ever had a goal that was so very important to you and you almost achieved it but at the last moment it slipped from your grasp?  Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were willing to work and work to bring it about but somehow it escaped you?

My story begins a good number of years ago in my junior year in high school.  I had just completed a somewhat successful season in track as an 880 yard runner. This was before the distances were converted to metric and it became the 800 meter run. I had worked hard all season at the after school practice sessions and I had gotten up many mornings to run a couple of miles before school.   I won some of the meets and set a school record in my favorite event.  Having come in second in the SEK regional meet I qualified for the Kansas state meet in Wichita.  At the state meet I was somewhat pleased with my performance in the half mile having placed 4^th, just out of the medals which were awarded for the first 3 places.  I really wanted to take a medal home but I still had my senior year to compete.

I have to admit that I was somewhat cocky going into the track season in my senior year.    I won most of the meets including the regional meet which qualified me for the state meet for the second time.  One day, one of my teachers asked how I anticipated I would place in the state meet.  As I said, I was somewhat cocky and replied that I should be able to do better than 4^th place allowing me to bring home a medal. 

The day of the meet in Wichita, the day of my final race of my high school career, was bright and sunny, very pleasant.  I was on the field in my sweats preparing to get warmed up when I heard the call over the PA system for the half mile.  What?  How can that be?  Is it really time already?  I haven’t even begun to warm up yet!  How can it be time for the race already?  I quickly made my way to the starting area; all the other participants were ready.  I was not.  I took off my sweats and got into position on the track, did a few quick jumping jacks trying to loosen up and get warmed up.  It wasn’t enough but it was all the time I had.

The starter fired his gun and I ran with the leaders around the first curve.  I was still running with the leaders as we made our way down the back stretch.  As we approached the second curve I ceased up, my legs cramped.  I moved to the left of the track and onto the grass.  My running career was over in an inglorious tumble on the infield.  I would never see that final finish line.  I had been cocky, proud, and boastful, and God had humbled me.

Now, in my eighth decade of life, I approach life’s finish line.  This time I will not falter.  I am prepared.  Through many other people and many events God has primed me for this race.  I am far past the starting line.  I don’t know when the finish line will cross my path; I only know that it will.

Paul wrote in Hebrews 12:1  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

When I read that passage I am grateful for the church family that not only exhibits the Godly life but encourages me to do so as well.  They are an amazing group of believers who have given their lives over to God and truly exhibit the love and compassion of our Savior. 

It is time to rid myself of all the baggage of life that holds me back on my spiritual journey to the final prize.  It is time for perseverance to take hold and endure. 

Again, Paul wrote in Philippians 3:14  “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  The time for preparation is here.  Our race to the finish line of life has begun.  It is in front of us, we know not where, only that it is there.  One day we will cross that finish line and I perceive that the finish line to life will be supernaturally transformed into a new starting line.  It will be the beginning of a new life in and with Jesus.  He is waiting for each of us there on the other side of this life.  What a wonderful experience it will be to look into his eyes, to touch his garment and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

TREES AND POLITICS



I’m a little slow.  Its taken me a while to come up with a theory that explains what is currently wrong and contentious in our society.  We all know that we are divided politically and socially on many issues.  At any time anyone may be offended by anything.  We seem angry.  We simply don’t like people who disagree with us and we don’t necessarily like those who agree with us.



We seem to be having some sort of nationwide corporate melt-down that no one has yet to put a label on.  We willingly verbally abuse and in extreme cases physically batter others for seemingly trivial issues.  Some of these issues are not so trivial but we are willing to abuse others none the less.  If some of the statements put out by our politicians were made between spouses the person would be arrested for spousal mental abuse. 



I theorize that many of the above ills are because our brains are suffering from a lack of oxygen and an over abundance of carbon dioxide.  How is this possible, how do we possibly have an oxygen dearth? 



For years we have been removing large swaths of trees to make room for commercial and residential development.  Almost every day we see large areas of old forest being removed by the big machines like a piranha in a gold fish bowl.    The forests are replaced by stores, condos, houses, lawns, concrete and asphalt.  Hundreds of trees are eliminated for every acre of land cleared thus the very items that God created to rid our environment of carbon dioxide and replenish our air with oxygen are being removed every day. 



This travesty has been going on for years, ever since Christopher Columbus set foot on our shores.  Slowly as our population has grown the pace of destruction has increased.  We are now deforesting our land at a break-neck speed and I theorize that we have reached critical mass, we are now consuming more oxygen than the remaining trees can produce and we are spewing more carbon dioxide into our air than these same trees can remove.  Hence we are running an oxygen deficit which is causing our brains to function at less than optimum performance.  In other words we are all running on empty air.



A prime example of my theory is this, there are approximately 3750 cherry trees around the tidal basin of our nations capitol in Washington DC, most are Yoshino trees.  These trees, a gift from Japan, are so small they produce little oxygen.  Could that explain the mental deficiency in our government on both sides of the aisle?  



George Washington had it right when he cut down a cherry tree to make room for a much more efficient oak or maple tree.  



The mass media are no better.  They work out of high rise office buildings which are already in oxygen deficient areas due to their altitude.  Their oxygen-deficient brains spew out erroneous data and opinions thinly disguised as news expecting an unsuspecting, oxygen deficient, readership to accept their printed material at face value. 



We of the general populace are no better off, we too are oxygen deficient and our brains are operating at less than optimum efficiency. We look at a newspaper and think, “Well, this is in print, it must be true.”  We see talking heads on TV spewing opinions and think, “Well, it was on the tube, it must be accurate.”  Worse yet, we see something on the Internet repeated like fleas on Bubbas hound dogs back and we think, “Well, it was on the Internet it must be true.”



So, what is the solution?  How do we replenish the oxygen in our atmosphere?  How do we get our nations leaders and the media to start using their brains properly? 



Simple, quit cutting trees and stripping our world of the oxygen producers.  If a tree must be removed, let’s require the contractor, builder, individual who is removing the tree to plant two replacement trees.  If the trees cannot be planted near the construction site they should be planted in a federally provided nature preserve.  These preserves, these plots of land, can be anywhere from a few acres to a few square miles in size designated specifically for the restoration of our oxygen rich environment. By planting two replacement trees for each one that is cut we will not only discourage the cutting of trees but also over a period of years we will regain the oxygen that God intended us to breathe and maybe our thought process will get back to where God intended it to be. 



Keep in mind that all the above is theory, I could be mistaken.  Keep in mind also that I too am using an oxygen-deficient brain.  But how else can we explain the current state of our American society?