Fraught times, these dog days of summers, and the air everywhere feels charged.
What decides the race of life – is the inner life.
Air waves snap and cackle with heated headlines.
Contentious lines keep getting drawn everywhere. Accusations and assumptions slap all around. All kinds of things sting.
And then the entire global family gathering around for the anticipated grit and grandeur of the Olympic games feels polarized and electric with debate.
And yet, in the midst of everything, there’s Leon Marchand who won gold in the 200 meter butterfly at 8:42 pm on Wednesday night, and then turn around and dove into the pool less than 2 hrs later for the 200 m breaststroke, only to capture that gold at 10:36 pm, becoming the first in history to win gold in both 200 m butterfly and breaststroke in the same Olympics – let alone less than 120 minutes apart. 17,000 spectators in the La Defense Arena roared with awe. And for me it was the truth Leon had quietly said several days prior about what had transformed him from a great swimmer into a historic swimmer – words for what it really means to live well in this moment in history.
Resistance happens wherever there’s surface-living. More depth — less resistance.
“I was watching a documentary about Michael [Phelps] and [his coach] Bob a few years ago,” Marchand quietly offered, “and it was all about the underwater. It showed how good Michael was at going faster underwater. He was explaining how you could escape from the waves, the surface, at every turn. Just go deeper, push deeper at the wall, and work under the water more than usual.”
He’s not wrong. And it’s not true only of swimming. It’s true of fraught times and charged days and contentious rhetoric and conflicting perspectives:
What happens under the surface is what will ultimately overcome.
What decides the race of life – is the inner life.
When the intensity of things goes higher — is when we go deeper.
When the intensity of things goes higher — is when we go deeper.
“You can kick faster underwater than you can above water,” is what swimming and diving coach at Trinity College, Carlos Vega, said “So if you can maximize power and speed underwater, there’s a lot less resistance, there’s a lot less drag…”
There’s a lot less drag when we go deeper.
The drag happens when you stay on the surface — on the surface of all the stories, on the surface of relationships, on the surface of your faith, the surface of your life. The drag happens when you don’t go deeper for context, deeper for clarity, deeper for truth.
Resistance happens wherever there’s surface-living.
If you’re tired of the drag of things — go deeper. Go deeper into prayer, deeper into the Word, deeper into silence and solitude and the Spirit, deeper into deeply connecting with God and people.
More depth — less resistance.
“Swimming underwater for so long allows swimmers to avoid the waves…” is how one world-class coach put it.
If you’re tired of the drag of things — go deeper. Go deeper into prayer, deeper into the Word, deeper into silence and solitude and the Spirit, deeper into deeply connecting with God and people.
If you want to avoid the chaos of all the waves — avoid the slickness of the surface. Avoid the screens and the clickbait headlines, avoid the soundbites and the veneer sensationalism, avoid the distractions and all the seemingly easy ways through – and yearn for something deeper, go live something deeper.
The longer you stay deep — the faster you move forward.
It’s tempting to stay where the action is, stay where the waves and the current and the noise is all happening, but it’s only when you go to the depths do you experience the depths of God.
The way to win is to go deep. Jesus Himself beckons: “Put out into the deep water...” (Luke 5:4)
The way to win … is to live deep.
The deeper you’re willing to go — the more you’re going to move forward.
Phelps will tell you, Marchand will tell you, all the prophets and the Good Shepherd Himself will tell you:
The only hope of rising to the heights, is to go down into the depths of the cruciform, counter-culture ways of Christ.
When you hit the wall, that’s not the time to give up — that’s the time to push deeper. Just as Jesus urges: “The seed that fell on rock is like those who hear God’s teaching and accept it gladly, but they don’t allow the teaching to go deep into their lives. They believe for a while, but when trouble comes, they give up.” (Luke 8, NCV)
Whenever you a the wall, that’s the time to go deeper.
And how do we go deeper?
The Depth happens at The Turn.
Turn, turn around, turn from the worry, turn from the angst, the doubts, the fear, the despair, the bitterness, the control, the rhetoric, the violence.
“All of life turns on turn.” (~WayMaker)
Turn, and at the turn — go deep.
Going deep into silence, into solitude, into the Sacred Word, into union with God, propels you forward toward the fullest life.
These are fraught, charged, unparalleled days. The only Way through is to go deep into Love, deep into sacrifice, deep into the Word, deep into prayer, deep into God.
We will only rise to the heights if we go to the depths of humility, of generosity, of cruciformity, of unity with God and the Spirit who shows us the Way to live the upside-down Kingdom of Christ.
The only hope of rising to the heights is to go down into the depths of the cruciform, counter-culture ways of Christ.
Instead of only being deeply passionate about our perspective, we’re called to be deeply compassionate to other’s pain.
Instead of only being deeply passionate about our perspective, we’re called to be deeply compassionate to other’s pain.
Instead of quickly dismissing the other as evil, we’re called to be deeply considered, caring and cruciform so others don’t miss Christ.
Instead of being forced into some human construct or culturally-defined side, we’re called to the deeper way of Jesus’ Upside Down Kingdom Way of respect for those who live differently, think differently, believe differently.
Because the way of Jesus is always taking the way that is always too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservative.
This is always the way through fraught days:
The only side we take is that of the One whose side was pierced for us.
Any old day you walk into Michael Phelps’ office, what you’d see on his wall is a framed photo finish of his 2008 Olympic 100 M butterfly race, with Phelps on the left, and Serbia’s Cavic on the right, both with hands outstretched. Phelp’s won the race by only 1/100th of a second.
The only side we take is that of the One whose side was pierced for us.
“Looking at photos of the finish, Phelps noticed something. “He’s picking his head up,” Phelps explained, examining the photo. “… And now mine’s in a straight streamline. So that’s the difference in the race. If his head’s down, he wins…”
Head down in the Word, head down in the work of the Kingdom, head down in sacrifice and service and surrender, head down in washing the feet of others, head down in loving those who believe differently, head down in worship to Christ – wins the race.
Whoever’s head’s down – he wins.
“ You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race” is what the Apostle Paul pointed to: “Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.
I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 MSG)
The way to win — is to live deep.
Now is not the time to glide to the finish, now is the time to go deep and keep your head down in the Word, in the cruciform work, and in the upside-down loving ways of God.
The way to win
is to always go deep.
And some day the air will be charged with the alleluia chorus of the heavenly host and glorious welcome home of God and the depths of this race will be worth it all.
When you’re looking for a real way way through, looking for things to turn around, a different trajectory…. a real change.
When you’re looking to go beyond the surface, and go deeper into God.
When you’re ready to find a new way of being…
For every person who has faced a no-way sign on the way to their dreams, WayMaker is your sign, that there is hope, that there are miracles, and that everything you are trying to find a way to, is actually coming to meet you in ways far more fulfilling than you ever imagined.
Grab Your Copy of WayMaker and the WayMaker Group Book Club Study — and begin the journey toward change you’ve been deeply hoping for.