On Sunday (Aug. 24), I competed in the Alberta Challenge Triathlon, which took place at Miquelon Lake near Edmonton. This was my last triathlon of the 2008 season. My time was 2:44.45, which is very respectable considering that the run course was on gravel and grass. I placed 11th overall (the race previous I placed 17th overall). This race had a higher number of men age 20-29, so I placed 5th out of 8 in my age category. See full results here.

Although the softer earth slows run times down, the Miquelon Lake trail was by far the most beautiful run I’ve done in my triathlon career thus far because the course was set on a pathway through trees and near small lakes. I would love to do this race again next year.

My proudest achievement was that I came out second overall on the swim and was able to pass the leader with a fast transition from the swim to bike. I’m very pleased to say that I defended my first place position for the first 7km of the ride and only dropped to 5th place by the end of the bike portion. Running was my weakest area. I had a slower transition and simply didn’t have the energy to maintain my standing. Nevertheless, I am extremely happy with the race, considering my training schedule in August dropped significantly (due to social activites, concerts, trips, and activities).

I’m convinced that if I actually trained with a club, or stuck to a good personal training schedule, then I could be placing much higher in competition. A pair of aero bars and some race-weight wheels might be nice too . . .

I’ve recently added a sidebar link to the The Potsy Clan , written by Mike Poettcker, about his family’s life in Montreal, where they moved a few years ago to plant a church (among other things). Generally, I see church planting and missionary work dubious, concerning, assuming, and often oppressive. But what Mike is doing in Montreal is different and I respect it. For what I know of him, he shares life with others and tells the good news by being real. He’s setting up a sort of house church, which you can read about. . . seems pretty cool.

Mike is one of the people who challenges the stereotypes of what it means to be Christian. As a former pastor of an Albertan church once I attended, Mike and I met on occasion to talk about spirituality, leadership, and other elements of being human. One of the first things he recommended to me when we started meeting was Douglas Coupland’s Life After God. He wasn’t critical of the book. He thought it would help challenge and direct some of my thoughts (which definitely needed some direction). That’s the sort of guy that he is.

Thanks to people like Mike, I know that many of the frustrating and horrific expressions of Christianity don’t comprehensively define the religion. Although I do not consider myself a Christian, I am not crippled by religious cynicism nor am I wary of Christian story (which continues to offer vitality and meaning to me). Instead, I am able pursue spirituality and living with god in my own integrity—through art, relationship, reflection/prayer, and personal expression. People like Mike remind me that the church (as an idea) and some churches have a place where I can share honestly about my story and myself and continue to find community.

I understand that many Christians attempt to be open and forward-thinking; some might object to my generalizations of the church. However, the church (particularly the evangelical church) continues to severely constitute people in inescapable dogmas and ideologies of judgment and self-assurance. I’ve met lots of Christians who try to escape the associated stereotypes but cannot. They try to be authentic people, but fail to be authentic; they try to love and accept others, but. They read and talk about being counter-cultural, but create and uphold cultures opposite to their values. All of this would be fine—I am not the paragon of love and virtue—if they could honestly present their failure and brokenness. I don’t often see that they do. I pray for them as they journey into being more full human beings. I hope they will pray for me. I think Mike does.

As you may know, I find Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited (which includes Hotel Chevalier) to be his best and most artistic film to date. The film offers fertile ground for interpretations, observations, and discussion through its masterful use of ambiguity and understatement.

For me, the movie is, first and foremost, about the realities associated with an intentional spiritual journey:
() the decision to undertake a journey
() gestures of spirituality
() failure/absurdity
() moment of transformation and/or enlightenment
() the question of what, if anything, has actually changed in the journeyed person

The latter point/question haunts me, although I take courage from this: Failure, disconnection, and suffering do not abate; however, the person who seeks to embrace life, face the self, and connect with others, despite these challenges, seems to gain access to a kernel of goodness that is at the centre of being/being human. Simply put, I see that, although they continue to suffer, the Whitman’s are transformed by their journey (albeit incrementally).

On a more general note, there are some elements in The Darjeeling Limited that could have been treated more subtly (father’s baggage, “I guess I have some more healing to do”), however for me these elements do not detract significantly. They are the raw in the raw and the cooked.

The writers seem to address these elements by simultaneously pointing to them and joking about them. Example: the scene where the train is lost. Francis says “Isn’t that symbolic?! We haven’t located us yet. . Where are those feathers at? . . . ” Being lost on the way allows the Whitman’s another attempt to confront themselves and one another, as well as their past and their fears—and their hopes. Regardless of how awkward the symbols are, they contribute to the spiritual journey of Francis, Peter, and Jack. The obvious, the awkward, and the mundane—not only the cataclysmic—play a role in changing a person.

Miracles. Just settling into the daily miracle of self, love, home, and work. How committed I must be to seek the heights.

The Values of Leif and Laura: Our Marriage Covenant

We, Leif and Laura, work to be people of deepest love, living our values and striving to take the actions of love in every situation. We express these values as vows; this action reminds us of who we are, and who we wish to be. These vows both identify us and guide us away from our shortcomings. These values define our partnership.
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I experienced Bringing Out the Dead, directed by Martin Scorsese, again last night. I strongly recommend that you watch this patient and poetic movie about mad New York nights.
This Easter weekend I have read from Richard Kearney’s The God Who May Be: A Hermeneutics of Religion, which posits God a potential rather than actual—a powerful Easter meditation.

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita. . . .

The end is always a beginning.