Catholic Exchange

Are You An Idiot?

Manrunning Or is it someone else?

I was running the other day in my neighborhood. For full disclosure I should say that I am lily white and have a chronic case of bird legs. Also, I wear "real" running clothes. In other words, I look pretty silly when I run.

As I approached an intersection there was a guy in an SUV, with his windows rolled up, puffing on a cigarette. He looked at me like "you idiot!" Now, it may have been my own insecurities but I really believe that's really what he was thinking.

Our world is upside-down. In our world we sometimes call good things bad and bad things good. A "good" time is sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette. A "bad" break is having to park too far from the front door of Wal-Mart.

Don't let intimidation stop you. I know people who won't exercise outside because they think they'll look stupid. So what! Stupid, is not exercising. I also know people who won't go to the gym (in their building) because they are embarrassed about how out of shape they are. That's like not going to the doctor for fear of seeing people who aren't as sick as you.

Most people aren't paying attention anyway. I'm convinced that in most situations if you are not naked or bleeding, 99% of people hardly notice you. Have you ever gotten a rip in your pants and went through the day and no one noticed? Me too. People are generally so caught up in their own world, they don't notice you. And, those people at the gym used to be just as out of shape as you. Okay, at least some of them were.

What would you do if you had no fear of looking silly? Well, don't' be an idiot, get up and do it!

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(For more posts like this one, visit my blog, Tech Rest – Enjoying technology and finding rest in a restless world)

Comments

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    The use of "idiot" as an insult is only effective if we view people who actually are idiots as being of less worth than everyone else. Hence, calling someone an idiot doesn't demean just the person it is targeted to, but the entire community of the severely mentally disabled. What is worse, these people are the least among our brothers (and sisters) who we should be lifting up rather than using as a benchmark for insults.

    As the father of two children who are idiots, I'm starting to lose my patience with people who continue to use the term as an insult. My children have the same intrinsic worth as any other human created in the image of God. They are just broken as a function of being exiled in a fallen world and they will be restored to their full physical beauty at the time of the resurrection.

    If someone is not using their gifted intelligence in a proper way it should be properly exposed for what it is: the sin of intellectual sloth.

    John C. Walker

    http://www.johncwalker.com

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