Primal Chapter 1

Mark 12:29-30

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with ll your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

In Primal Mark Batterson simplifies Christianity to the "primal"truth contained in this verse, which is "Love God, Love others". Growing up as a Christian with constant exposure to all the different ideologies, theologies, concepts, so called "truths", and good natured attempts to return to the "basics", I have to admit that I've probably greatly missed the essence of what Jesus is saying here. As I've read this verse more recently and heard it time and again as the theme of our church I have tried to keep it primal. However, my inability to focus on a single idea for more than a few minutes plagues me. Currently it feels like most of the time I'm stick in a "love me first, Love God and others as time permits...." which sucks.

I have tried to sit still for a few minutes to remember the places where i first encountered this primal truth of God, something similar to Batterson's experience in the Roman catacombs. And I have found that I really don't have one. I have moments where I have felt really close to God and I remember those clearly. Unfortunately, the moments when I felt anything but those primal experiences are the ones that stand out most. I hope, as I continue this study and learn how to imperfectly teach and convey these seemingly "perfect" ideas to members of my local revolution, that I can look back on this experience as one of those primal moments. I also hope that the moment goes to a depth beyond "feeling".

The first steps...

Overall goal for first steps section:

RUN in 5k on 12 Feb.

Daily Logs:

17 Jan - Today I ran using week 3 of the "couch to 5k" running plan:

Surface:Treadmill
Time: 27 min
Distance 2.08 miles
Run/walk intervals: 5/3

18 Jan - Used the same plan...

Surface:Treadmill
Time: 27 min
Distance 2.09 miles
Run/walk intervals: 5/3
Slightly faster pace. Feeling pretty tight and sore afterwards, probably from running two days in a row after not running for so long.

19 Jan - Brisk walkin warmish weather with Wife and pup...

Surface: Outside
Time: 30 min
Run/Walk intervals: Walked the whole time
Had a good family walk outside and just it easy for a day after two days of getting back into running. The walk definitely stretched my legs back out ater they had been feeling tight all day.

20 Jan - Last day of week 3 of the plan
Surface:Treadmill
Time: 27 min
Distance 2.17 miles
Run/walk intervals: 5/3
Tried to keep up a better pace. Right foot began hurting towards the end. Feels like the arch again.

22 Jan - First day of week 4 plan
Surface:Treadmill
Time: 30 min
Distance 2.51 miles
Run/walk intervals: 5-5-3-8-3-5
Kept it at a steady 10 min pace while running. Right foot was hurting pretty bad.

25 Jan - Second day of week 4 plan
Surface:Treadmill
Time: 30 min
Distance 2.55 miles
Run/walk intervals: 5-5-3-8-3-5
Inceased speed past 10 min mile...foot felt ok