Church

Eceabat, Turkey

I just finished reading, “Make Your Bed” by a former Navy SEAL, William McRaven. It was interesting to read about the grit of the SEALs, even if the parts about not giving up and working together are a bit trite. Now I’m on to, “Born to Run,” a book about the indigenous Mexican ultramarathoners, the Tarahumara people.

What these two books describe beautifully is the tenacity, the love of physicality, and how exhaustion can be a beloved spiritual teacher. “You can’t hate the Beast and expect to beat it; the only way to truly conquer something, as every great philosopher and geneticist will tell you, is to love it.”

I was especially inspired by today during our 4-hour hike. I had the spirit of an all-terrain ultramarathoner, even though we only went 8 miles. The weather was cool — too cold when I wasn’t wearing my thin, puffer jacket, but too warm when I was. We hiked around the Gallipoli peninsula, taking in the fresh air and the Thracian Sea views.

Not until a museum exhibit in Wellington had I heard of Gallipoli or Anzac. The Anzac troops (which stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps), arrived in Turkey at the behest of the British Commonwealth hoping to take over Istanbul (they didn’t) in World War I. There are many cemeteries with both marked and unmarked graves in the Gallipoli area.

Some plaques had phrases like, “the will of god,” or, “died a martyr’s death,” very subjective interpretations. I suppose you rest more easily if you believe the death of your loved one was of divine providence. But whose god are we talking about? And how can we be sure we got the message right?

Being at Ephesus the other day, I got to thinking about the Bible and the book of Ephesians. Paul wrote letters to the Ephesian people, telling them all to shape up and follow Jesus. Okay, fine. But now every unedited word of Paul’s letters are considered divine words that billions of people see as the only ever complete words of the one and only God? Really?

I just really feel energized after a 4-hour hike. That feels more like church to me.