Friendship > Politics

13 of Richmond’s finest showed up for a Mary beatdown on a beautiful morning. Here’s what transpired:

COP: Mosey west on Grove, hang a left on Lock and gather in the First Pres parking lot. Deadman hang // Helicopters // DQs // Cherry Pickers// Imperial Walkers // Alabama Prom Dates // LBCs // Crabcakes // Merkins // Mountain Climbers // Merkins // Peter Parkers // Merkins // SSHs 21s (count to 5 in Candace, to 21 silently in our heads, all stop at the same time. A couple dudes messed up so we did 5 burpees).

Triple Check: P1: People’s Chair // P2: Plank // P3: Sprint to end of lot, Bernie Sanders back. Mosey back to MM. Stop midway for some Lt.Dans.

Dora: P1 run to the end of the courts and back. Escalating Sets of Excercises increasing by 50s: 50 Burpees // 100 WW2s // 150 Merkins // 200 Squats

Final COP: Pickle Pounders // Flutter Kicks // LBCs

Mosey back to the Flag. Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

NMS: A professor of mine said that the only basis for healthy democracy is friendship. As silly as it might sound, F3 demonstrates a model for the healthy functioning of democracy, because the foundations of our friendship run deeper than our diverse political views. In a moment when nearly everything is reduced to political categories, F3 models a way to put the brotherly love and mutual respect of friendship above political reductionism. Let’s model a better way.

Here’s prayer written by a pastor friend that we used to close out the time today:

Lord, we pray for our nation. Our country is hurting. Families are torn apart. Friends have turned into enemies. Lord, may we see how morally inconsistent we are. How self-righteous we can be. How fear has deeply poisoned our hearts. How the lust for power has blinded us to the gospel. Lord, deliver us from evil. May we all repent first. Before we can pray for unity, we must personally do the hard work of unmasking our own duplicity. Forgive us when we demonize another. Forgive us when we speak truth without love. Forgive us when our moral outrage is simply a facade covering our need to be right. Forgive us when we reduce love to sentimentality while we ignore the cries of injustice. Forgive us when we sin against another. And may we learn to forgive when we are sinned against. Teach us to be salt and light. May our speech be always filled with grace seasoned with salt. Teach us to put our hope in you; to properly discern our civic responsibilities, and to live from a non-anxious place. Lord, before we speak, may our lives be marked by silence. But guard us from silence when you call us to speak. Lord, you are always at work, making all things new. Make us new people with new hearts who can join you in this project of restoration. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.