Live for the Truth

I started drinking coffee when I was about two years old. I can remember lying on the hard wood floor of our home, watching The Three Stooges, drinking coffee from a baby bottle, and rubbing the silky edge around my blanket between my fingers. Ah, the memories! My mother would bore the hole in the nipple with a knife and fill the bottle with coffee, cream, and sugar. What was she thinking? I remember my parents getting mad at me because I wouldn’t go to bed when they told me to. Hello!? Around my house we try to keep the kids away from any form of stimulant. They’re already bouncing off the walls; I can’t imagine what a ‘cup-o-jo’ would do to them.
I continued to drink coffee all the way through my school years, though not as much as when I was a toddler.
When I entered the real world coffee became a staple in my every day routine. If I don’t have at least one cup of coffee in the morning I’ll suffer headaches throughout the day.
When I’m working nights I’ll usually drink a pot in the first 3 hours of a 12-hour shift. If I don’t stop drinking before 11pm I won’t be able to sleep well the next day, due to caffeine and trips to the restroom.
There is one stretch each month where I work 4 consecutive 12-hour night shifts. (mon-thur) Last month, on Thursday evening, I realized that I hadn’t drank anything but coffee for the past three days. And during those three days I had slept a combined total of around 11 hours. I'm beginning to think there may be a connection.
Folks, this cannot be healthy. The only time I’ve ever been able to curb the ‘java jones’ was while I was running. I didn’t crave coffee at all. My body craved nothing but water, and lots of it. I slept better at nights, and during the daytime. I even had more energy during my waking hours.
That’s it! I’m going to start running again and stop drinking coffee. After all, it’s not right for me to let a steaming cup of bean juice run my life.
I’m finished! Done! I’m through with it!
He says as he hears the coffee maker come gurgling to a halt.
Hey, I do have to stay awake until morning!

Lance Armstrong is a tremendous athlete and his accomplishments are remarkable. He is one of the best, if not THE best, conditioned athletes in the world. Lance has about 4% body fat, while Shaquille O’Neal has about 16%. He has a resting heart rate below 40 and the average man’s is around 70. Lance’s VO2 Max rating (the amount of oxygen the lungs consume during exercise) is 85. An average healthy male MIGHT rate a 40. Looking at those numbers I have to believe that Lance would be the ideal marathon runner. He beat testicular cancer, only to win one of the most difficult athletic events- a 2000+ mile bike race- 7 years in a row, despite being told by doctors that he only had a 20% chance of survival. He’s raised millions of dollars for cancer research.
Now, having said that, why don’t I think Lance Armstrong should be considered a role model for kids?
While the media was all ‘goo-goo’ over Lance and Sheryl, his rock star girlfriend, they never mentioned that Lance left his wife and mother of his children just a couple of years ago because, apparently, they had different priorities. Word is that Lance’s ex-wife had this crazy idea that Lance should spend more time at home with her and the kids, and less time riding his bike around the world. How crazy is that? How selfish can this woman possibly be to want to rob the world of this great athlete just so her kids can have their father around the house? I’ve also read Lance had a hard time understanding his wife’s devotion to her faith. That’s not hard to believe since Lance has been quoted as saying such things as “If there was a god, I’d still have both of my nuts” or “God gave me cancer, the doctors took it away”. If you google “Lance Armstrong God” you will see several atheist websites singing the praises of their hero, Lance Armstrong. I don’t really know if Lance is an atheist or not, but his statements would lead you to believe so.
We live in a world that wants the highest paid athletes, biggest movie stars and rock stars to be the model of perfection. After all, fame and fortune is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, these type folks are definitely ‘role models’, just not ‘good role models’.
I do not dislike Lance Armstrong whatsoever. In fact, I think he is probably a great guy. It’s not his fault that he has had this title forced upon him.
BTW, I don’t think that Babe Ruth was a very good role model either. But in those days the MSM didn’t let the ‘little things’ get by them.

I love watching sports on TV. I’ve been married for more than 18 years. I’ve fathered three kids. I love to work on cars and get my hands dirty. I work in a steel mill for Pete’s sake! Now, having said that, I’ve got a confession to make… You see, I love watching Gilmore Girls. At first I thought I was the only man who struggled with this. But I’ve come to discover that at least a couple of other ‘guys’ I know also enjoy watching the show, one of which has loaned me the first season on DVD. I don’t know what it is about this program. I wish I could tell you that I had a crush on Lorelia or Rory, but it’s much worse than that. I do think the girls are VERY cute, but I actually find myself getting caught up in the show! As a Christian conservative (see: right-wing wacko), I have many problems with some of the shows message. But that can be said about 99.9% of today’s programming. I think Gilmore Girls is one of the most brilliantly written programs ever. The dialog between the characters is hilarious. The town, Stars Hollow, is the kind of place we all would love to live in. You find yourself really caring about the relationships between the characters. Sometimes it gives you that warm fuzzy feeling that can only be duplicated by watching video 1980 US men’s hockey team, a Sports Century episode on Lou Gehrig, a Nolan Ryan no-hitter, or highlights of one of the Dallas Cowboy’s Super Bowl victories.

When I was in school I wrote a term paper titled ‘Satan in Rock Music’. You know, things like Stairway to Heaven backwards, KISS (Knights In Satans Service), Anton LeVay’s picture on the Hotel California album cover, and stuff like that. At the time I was probably a little more caught up in the subject than I should have been. While I became a Christian a few years earlier, I had gotten pretty deep into the heavy metal scene. I would frequent concerts by such bands as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, KISS, Van Halen, and Ozzy Osborne. When I look back I realize that I was an extremely messed-up teenager. I don’t know why I chose the subject that I did, I guess because I found it fascinating. Fascination can be a very bad thing, especially when it draws you away from Christ. You’d be surprised how many books you can find on this subject. Remember, this is WAY before the days of the internet. One of the books that I checked out from the library talked about a ‘conversion’ The Eagles went through in the early ‘70s. I remember it describing it as ‘selling their souls’ to the devil. The book stated that their conversion to Satanism was documented in their song Hotel California. A few years later one of the band members – I can’t remember which one – struggled with his decision to serve Satan because he had given his heart to Christ as a child. As he struggled with all of this, strange things began to happen to him. There were equipment failures, illnesses, and other things that he experienced. While in bed suffering from exhaustion he would wake up every evening at precisely eleven thirty four. Finally, one night when he awoke the digital alarm clock next to his bed was turned upside down and it read HELL, which is 11:34. If I remember correctly, this is what helped lead to the band’s separation. I have no idea if any of this stuff was actually true. I just remember it made an impression on me at the time. It also made for good term paper material.
Now, on to the part that I should never tell anyone.
Over the years I haven't been able to look at a clock reading 11:34 without remembering that story. That seems pretty acceptable. In fact, I can’t even see the numbers 20 or 34 without remembering Earl Campbell. Here’s where it gets really strange. Over recent years I have begun to look at the clock at exactly 11:34. I don’t look at the clock any more frequently than the average person, I don’t believe. But I will go for days at a time without seeing 11:34 on the clock two times per day. If I’m asleep, I will wake up and roll over, knowing that the clock is going to read 11:34, and sure enough…it does. I really don’t know what to make of this. I had written if off a long time ago as merely coincidence. But after a while one has to start to wonder. Is it God trying to tell me something? Is it the devil? Is it my mind, along with my internal clock, playing games with me?
Okay, so now when I go ‘over the edge’ you’ll know one of the many contributing factors.