The Weight of Glory

When lifting weights, I usually try to do 3 sets of 10-15 reps. By rep 5 or 6 of the third set, I can hardly lift the stack. I have to stop and take a few deep breaths, then do one or two more reps, and then stop to take several more deep breaths. If I am trying to add weight, the third set takes as long to get through as the first two combined.

This is what I have been doing all day with this Writing Sample. It's almost finished. It's due one week from today. I'm just trying to go through the paper and weave in a series of ideas that helps illuminate my argument. But it's heavy lifting. I keep stopping every few reps to take a few deep breaths. Or listen to a song. Or publish a blog post. Every time I get back to working on the paper, it seems like I can do less heavy lifting before I need another break.

I do know that I will finish the paper. As Testudo (our Maryland Terrapins mascot) might tell you, slow and steady wins the race.

I do not know how people who do not participate in athletics make any sense of their every-day activities.

(In other news, I found out how to upload all my old blog posts into this blog so I could delete the old one. So in case you were wondering what I was doing in 2006, look at the archive. And sorry if I flooded your dashboard.)

(The Weight of Glory is a compilation of several sermons C.S. Lewis gave during WWII to encourage his Christian listeners. I have read them, and I remain undecided about their contents. They kind of feel like propaganda to me. But, the allusion seemed like an appropriate one in this instance.)