PREACHING SAVAGEMAN

The fact is.... I excitedly tell just about anyone who will listen about SavageMan. Well, not just any person on the street, but while I was hiking I told several hikers about it and that I was training for it during my "zero" days. The last night I was on the Trail, when I had been disillusioned and unhappy with it for about a hundred and fifty miles, I told a young man I was thinking of ending my hike. In addition to missing my husband, I wasn't going to make it to Maine in time to be home for SavageMan, and I really, really wanted to do SavageMan.

He was from Germany, here on a vacation visa to thru-hike the AT, and here I was saying I wanted to stop because of a triathlon. "Wow," he said. "That must be some triathlon. My dad does Ironmans. I'll have to tell him about this one."

What if I had been talking to him about Jesus?

I told hikers about SavageMan. I didn't tell any about Jesus. In the Berkshires of Massachusetts, I became a regular at the bike shop where I bought the tire after my Greylock-descent blowout. Got a tune-up and some repairs there. I told the owner about SavageMan on the day I bought the tire. Wrote down the URL for him to look it up himself and hopefully tell others. When I piked up my bike after the tune-up I told two separate customers. I was posting on the FB page of the Berkshire Bicycling Association, looking for ride companions and good hilly routes, and told them I was training for SavageMan. I talked it up with the guy I did the "double Greylock" with. (Actually, he told me about a great fundraising ride that he does, as well. He also mentioned his church. I didn't.)

It's like I am all about SavageMan and hope I can turn others on so they will want to see for themselves.

What if I demonstrated that kind of excitement about Jesus? What if I actually felt it?

No one tries to shut me up when I talk about SavageMan. They ask questions. They whistle in amazement when I tell them about the climbs, especially the 31% pitch of the Westernport Wall and how, if you make it up the hill without falling or putting a foot down, you get a brick laid in the road with your name engraved on it.

How about having your name written in the Book of Life?


If you talk about a triathlon, people might not want to do one themselves, but they are curious about what you are saying. They ask if you swim and bike, or what, and how far. They want to know how it works. Some want to know if it's to raise money for something (it is...melanoma. I don't raise money, but maybe someone I preach to will.)  People who already understand triathlon, who are bikers or runners or triathletes, want to know about the race course and course support and the organization.

But if you start talking about the Lord, people don't want to hear it. They write you off as a nut. They say, "Have a nice day."

But there may be the one that does want to hear.

Help me, Lord.