K03 Drop and give me ten, Private!

Fort Jackson, South Carolina, 1972. Anyone who went through basic training will vividly remember the Drill Sergeants’ favorite terms of affection. The “ten” are push-ups, of course; and there was a method to the madness. It worked.

The first few weeks of Basic are the “tear down” phase of getting into shape, and hard physical exercise was the essential ingredient. Fortunately, the “Build Up” phase followed. I’m 6 feet tall, and weighed 185 when I reported in. Three months later I weighed out at just 144 pounds.

Suck it up, Private! Pain is weakness leaving your body! Love the pain!

Have you ever wondered about James’ admonition “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds...” (*1) or Paul’s: “We glory in tribulations...that works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope...” (*2)?

James then explains that the purpose of patience is to make us telios. Often translated as “perfect” but in Greek bearing a sense of completion – as there is no more to add. Our father does not send us trials and trouble; the world provides more than enough opportunities for us to grow character, or not...

No one’s character is improved by winning. Only by losing. Only by trials.

I would not wish away the trials in my 76 years. What would I be today without life’s lessons?

Thank you, Lord for working my worldly clay into someone better. Keep at it! I know that I am not yet telios. Not yet what I could be. Take from my life that which is holding me back – even though I’ll feel pain when it goes.

01/20/2025

*1 James 1:2

*2 Romans 5:3,4