the thin line between optimism and delusion…

I am sitting on Herty field writing this, and I gotta tell you, I love this town. It is so nice to come home and actually feel like it is home. I mean, I love Augusta and Augusta will always been home, but at the same time, I live in Athens, and I have lived here for 5 full years. Added to the fact that Athens has always been a bit of a second home for me, and the attachment grows even stronger. I went to the Morton today, which is the church I attend. It is part of Athens First United Methodist, and I love it. I have been to a lot of churches in Athens, but this is the only one that I have enjoyed on a regular basis. I like to think of church as something comparable to running or working out. When you haven’t run in a long time, that first run is not very enjoyable. and to make it worse, you pass people while you are running who don’t seem to be going through the same torturous experience that you are going through, and it doesn’t really seem fair, and it makes you not want to run again for a while. But all it takes is that one good run, and it makes you want to run every day for the rest of your life. And you are going to have bad runs, and feel awful during the run, whether it is because you haven’t been taking care of your body, or because you just don’t “feel like it”, but the good runs are going to make it worth it. Pretty soon, you are the one who is enjoying the run and you feel kinda bad for the people who are struggling down the trail or the road, but you know that they are on the right path, and that if they keep at it, it will become a joy and not a job. Well, I see God like that. If I go to church all the time and read my bible and stuff like that, then I look forward to church and I enjoy it a great deal. but if it is something that I have been neglecting, then I don’t enjoy it and it makes me not really want to go back during it. But here is the great thing, even if it is painful during the experience, running or church, when it is over, you feel good. sometimes you feel great. It is such a satisfactory experience, both are fulfilling and worth it. David gave a great sermon today, and the two quotes that I kept thinking of during the sermon are this: the first is a Sara Evans song that says, “sometimes I’m a sinner and sometimes I’m a saint; one justifies the reason, and one understands the pain.” and the other quote is, “Guilt is not of God.” which is one that always allows me to enjoy church, even when I am in the dumps. Okay, gotta go eat lunch…….