Samuel

Today marked essentially my first foray into the outside world since... oh, I guess getting my teeth cleaned (but that doesn't count). And it wasn't very far. But a couple weeks ago Davide invited me to play soccer with the doctoral students and Andrews faculty on Sunday mornings (apparently I qualify because I'm a relative of faculty), and that sounded like pretty good fun to me, so today I went. And it was a lot of fun, albeit extremely exhausting. I overestimated my fitness and endurance by a long shot.

There was one guy, Samuel, who just impressed me. He looked on the younger side of middle aged, and this guy was a trooper. He's quite short and fit, so I think he has that going for him, but the dude did not stop running. And he would sprint back and forth when needed, the entire time he was there. And I mean sprint. When I've played with people older than me before, I'm usually one of the ones who has legs the longest, but Samuel was putting me, and everyone else, to shame. Like I said, I was impressed.

I want to have legs like that in life, too. Be able to sprint forward with the ball to attack life head on, but then pivot and race back to defend my own base when I've made a mistake or lose momentum. I think that idea is one of the keys to a fulfilling and successful life. I'm trying to work on it a little bit.

The other day while doing my little workout in the basement, I was listening to the Psalms—and almost getting a little emotional, to be honest. The ups and downs expressed there are so human. David is sometimes sprinting forward in high praise to Almighty God, then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and having to race back to defend—whether it's because he sinned, or because his enemies have him surrounded, or whatever. But he seems to always end with forward motion, a kind of But you are still Almighty God, and I will put my trust in You deal. Hearing his psalms provokes the desire for a dogged persistence in life and in pursuit of God. David must've learned from the best.

Maybe we both learned something from Samuel.