9 Comments
User's avatar
Andrew Devlin's avatar

This made me think about the current crazy dance that we are witnessing today, that of the rampant drug abuse destroying many of our youth. Unfortunately, this dance doesn’t just lead to exhaustion, it often leads to death as it did with our son, Patrick.

I thank God that during my alcohol and drug abusing days that the drugs were more expensive and less lethal or I would have been dead long ago. I pray to Him every day that our young people will wake up as I did back then. I also pray that law enforcement will stop coddling the young, as the years I spent incarcerated helped me to realize that my substance abuse was the source of all my troubles.

Have a great and blessed day, Jason!

Expand full comment
Art Hutchinson's avatar

Amen! Folks seek "transcendence" in all sorts of ways other than Christ. When I was running ultramarathons, the number of former substance abusers among us was astounding; out of one addiction into another.

Expand full comment
Andrew Devlin's avatar

A much healthier addiction indeed!

Expand full comment
Art Hutchinson's avatar

Awesome piece, Jason. As the saying goes: "money"! Memorable and meaty!

Especially, "...prayer is not dependent on our clarity. It depends on God's sovereignty... not about having all the answers; it's about knowing the One who does."

As I write a non-fiction memoir-devotional on ultramarathon running, I'm struck by parallels such as,

1) lost people vainly seeking absolution or pilgrimage penance via extreme shared self-flagellatory rituals which border on the self-destructive,

2) messed-up body chemistry putting folks into ecstatic, trance-like, even hallucinatory and dissociative states,

3) intersections with spiritual phenomena only partly explainable according to biochemistry, and often wholly beyond it (I can attest to this personally!), and,

4) spectators being drawn from horror to fascination to participation, often despite themselves.

Whatever the cause(s), one of the undergirding Biblical themes is the contrast between the rest we enjoy in Christ versus the perpetual restlessness of the evil one and his minions.

Expand full comment
Jeff Johnson's avatar

"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." Romans 8:26-27

Expand full comment
Robert C Culwell's avatar

⏳✍🏼 Cool Historical TidBit, Thanx Amigo and Get out on the Floor....! 🎵🇩🇪☺️

Expand full comment
Wanda Bush's avatar

Very interesting. Thanks.

Expand full comment
Al Knock's avatar

As we face a world gone crazy, how do we respond? People have their minds bent. How do we take this on. No Declaring them bat s__t crazy isn’t addressing the real issue. We all should be praying and take on what we’re facing. I never had heard of this phenomenon before. Thanks

Expand full comment
Robert C Culwell's avatar

💃🏽🕺🏽🪩 🎻🪗🥁📯🎶 "Foot Loose"🚷 x 300yrs before the Baptists showed up! Those germans are always known for cutting a rug....😉🙋🏻‍♂️🤷🏻🤦🏽‍♀️

Any who, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAINT JOHN! 💦🕊️🌴

Expand full comment