Stromlo Forest Park cross country running track, Canberra

I wasn’t sure what the track was going to be like..typically grassy areas around Canberra have at least a smattering of prickles to stand on, so I was half expecting to need to wear my Vibrams to avoid subjecting my soft soles to the spiky bits.

As it turns out, the track was beautifully manicured and appears to have been turfed with a fine leafed grass of some variety. No prickles. It was like running on butter! I did, however, come perilously close to stomping on a spider…good thing for both of us he saw me first and scurried away!

I couldn’t help but smile as I felt the soft blades tickle my toes as I ran! I felt like a kid again!

I just kept running until the boys had finished their mountain biking further up the mountain.  I ended up doing 6.5kms and with a brief drink break I reckon I could have done another lap. I felt a little stiff last night, and expected to be sore today, but I am feeling great…no residual pain whatsoever! Ironically my pace was faster than anything I’ve done shod too.

Right now my feet are squished into heels…and as much as I love my heels….I kind of wish I was barefoot.

Do you like walking around without shoes on? Or are you definitely a shoes-on kind of person?

Yesterday Shel turned 11.

This kid is full of life and character…one day I can see him being a great leader. As he would say…he  has mad skillz.

Hi Ho Silver and AWAY!!!!

Before dinner Shel indulged in a little sheep surfing in the middle of the city. He got some strange looks

Shel asked to have snails for his birthday dinner, so he and I went to Ardeche Restaurant in town (they were the only ones I could find serving snails!) while Aiden and Daddy went to the APK around the corner (no exotic food for them). Shel ordered Escargots a la Borgingnon and LOVED them. He was quite the celebrity with the wait staff who found it curious that this young man would want snails for his birthday

Happy birthday buddy!

Love Mum

My Vibrams got DIRTY!!!!

But that’s OK…that’s what they’re built for!

This morning I drove all the way out to Uriarra picnic ground with the idea that I would run the Uriarra Loop trail. On paper it looked like a great idea…it’s a pretty area, and the loop is listed as a 3.5km easy walk on the brochure. I figured it would be a nice change of scenery from the foot paths and roads around here.

This is the head of the trail. Looks gorgeous right?

It’s a very pretty track that winds along the Murrumbidgee River until it meets up with the Molonglo River. And it would make a great walk. But I soon found out that it’s not great for running.

Here’s why:

• wombat holes (and poop)
• rabbit holes (didn’t see so much poop)
• kangaroo poop (seriously do these animals have to do it on the track?)
• overgrown knee high wet grass
• concealed rocks
• some very steep bits
• scotch thistle and blackberry bushes

In the end I think I probably ran 50% of the trail. The rest was rocky hiking and picking my way through the grass trying not to break my neck. It was a nice morning out, but I won’t be running it again. I will, however, be taking the kids out there for a picnic, they will have a blast rock-hopping along the river and looking for lizards.

My Vibram FiveFinger KSOs were BRILLIANT! They handled running in gravelly sand and climbing boulders equally well. I stood on the odd sharp rock, but it wasn’t a major pain moment. Love these shoes!

Right now though, I need to go find some calamine lotion. The skin that was exposed between my knee-length running tights and my KSOs has come up in itchy, bumpy, pink welts. Apparently I am allergic to one of the grasses I was running in.

scratch scratch scratch!

Next time I’ll find a trail run that sticks to fire tracks.

So far we’ve talked about being honest with ourselves about the questions that pop up about our faith, and we’ve looked at some strategies for dealing with our own questions in a constructive way. Now we turn to thinking about how to deal with other people who ask us curly questions.

Depending on the crowd you run with, you might get genuine curly questions seeking genuine answers, or you might get the type of question that is designed to wind you up and make you look like a fool.

If you work in knowledge work like I do, it will more likely than not be the latter, with a sprinkling for the former for a little light relief. Both are hard work! Either way, to make any progress it comes down to a matter of needing to build trust in a world heavily flavoured with skepticism and distrust.

Many people see Christianity (and religion in general) as an ideology that has been used for centuries to control people, and they rail against the indoctrination that they see around them or that they themselves received as children. They’ve been fed a steady media diet of Ned Flanders style fanaticism or crackpot Christian fundamentalists spewing hate as they demonstrate for their cause, and generally have a very poor opinion of Christians. In fact, great numbers of people have have come to the conclusion that God and religion are destructive simply by interacting with Christians. We know that not all Christians are the same, and we know that God cannot be judged conclusively by looking at the church alone (although theologically speaking that is one of the measures of a healthy church — presenting an accurate reflection of the attributes of God. How’s yours doing by the way? Try asking the community, you can’t always tell from the inside.).

There are a lot of people carrying religious scars out there, and we have our work cut out for us to find a footing for any sort of credible discussion about a loving, compassionate God.

Good thing we have the perfect tool that no other religion or philosophy has in their toolbox. Grace.

We need to create an atmosphere that is safe for people to talk, to ask questions without fear of judgement and dogma being rained down on them. Seemingly hostile people will stick around and keep exploring their questions if they feel safe and accepted, and sooner or later they will let their guard down enough to find God. Through God’s grace it’s our job to provide that safe space where you can dialogue and wrestle with the questions together.

Here are ten things I like to keep in mind when I’m talking to people about God stuff:

1. Listen, listen, listen — I very nearly had this one as the solitary point in this post. LISTEN…don’t sit there thinking about your next argument. REALLY LISTEN. Cannot emphasise this one enough.
2. Don’t make assumptions — No two people have the same story in life, don’t assume that you understand where someone is simply because you’ve heard a similar story.
3. Ask more questions than you give answers — Ask “why?” What is the story behind the question? Dig deeper. And remember, if you don’t have the answer…say so! Don’t pretend and waffle! Find the answer together if you need to. If you are in over your head, get help
4. Do not judge, and never ever say that the way someone is thinking is “wrong”… what is wrong? They think you think “wrong” too…I wouldn’t mind betting that they think that for you to believe in God is much the same as believing in the Tooth Fairy. Share your story, be open and honest about your faith. Remember that you need God’s grace just as much as they do.
5. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. — Respect is essential. Value them as a person and DO NOT view them as a project (i.e. your chief goal is to get them thinking the same way you do). Build a relationship without an agenda. Remember that it is not your job to change this person, that’s the role of the Holy Spirit.
6. NO jargon…using churchy language immediately signals that Christianity (and the church) is an exclusive club that only the in-crowd know how to interpret. The message of the gospel is simple at it’s core. Don’t complicate it with words that need interpretting and that will create a barrier. Of course some conversations will go deeper, be sure to interpret theological words for your listener. Church/religious/faith culture is like stepping into an alien land for many people; if you want to know how that feels, go visit your local mosque or temple and sit through a service.
7. Knowing your Bible inside and out is not enough. It’s not a magic book. Of course it is the foundation for believers, but there are a great many people who reject the Bible outright. For these people, it is nothing more than a collection of fairy stories that may or may not have some historical basis. For this reason you will have times where you are completely unable to use the Bible as a reference for truth in the short term. Some understanding of how the Bible came about, why it is an authoritative source for Christians and how we are to interpret the myriads of different literary styles within its covers may be necessary. More importantly people are going to be looking very closely at your life to see that what you talk about is true and that it works. They will watch closely how you treat people…does this Bible stuff really work in real life?
8. Let them walk away — be willing to let them walk away. Give them time to process and explore in peace. Understand that God works behind the scenes and that God’s timing and their timing is not your timing. Want to be a part of the continuing story in that person’s life? Pray.
9. Encourage — affirm and recognise the steps they take towards seeking God. Acknowledge God’s work in their lives over time as you see their thought patterns change over time.
10. Challenge — Only when the time is right…when you’ve built trust and a genuine relationship…only then have you earned the right to challenge and to ask some tough questions of your own. Never ever go in with the hellfire and brimstone approach trying to scare them into believing in God…that’s more likely than not one of the things that turned them off in the first place. Intolerance and religious arrogance is at loggerheads with today’s culture…to be blunt, it is at loggerheads with the gospel. Grace is the key word here.

A warning
Some people firing questions at you are not going to be happy unless they get you cranky…do not get defensive. It may feel like a personal attack, but it’s not most of the time. If the person is getting wound up and upset, take a breather, ask, “you are obviously very passionate about this, can you help me understand why?” Steer conversation back to them and listen carefully. If the discussion gets past the point of no return in the crankiness stakes, suggest you continue the discussion at a later date when things have calmed down. Anger is never productive. Then remember to get back to the conversation!

Resources
Here are a couple of resources that you may find helpful.

• No Perfect People Allowed – John Burke — a book aimed at breaking down the barriers between the church and emerging generations.
• Pen and Parchment blog – great theological input in accessible language.
• Apologetics: Why your church needs it – an article by renowned Christian apologist (and Alliance man) Ravi Zacharias.

Encouragement for you
As you jump in boots and all, don’t be afraid of exploring alternative beliefs to yours, be they other Christian doctrines or entirely different religious systems or worldviews. Engaging in this type of critical thinking about what you believe is not only good for strengthening your convictions and thought processes, it helps others to see that you are not a shallow religious bigot, that you are capable of understanding other view points, and as such you create for yourself a toehold for being able to show God’s grace.

Do you have any tips to share?