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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3: 12-14)
I shy away from using sports metaphors because there are plenty of people who aren't interested in athletics.
However, almost everyone, I hope, can identify with the notion of bicycle riding. Bicyclists often start out their training regiments with a goal they yearn to achieve. They want to ride "X" amount of miles in a day. Dedicated bicyclists train to ride their first century. Bicyclists like many other athletes as well as musicians, artisans, chefs, and hobbyists spend hours upon hours training for races or working upon their crafts or skills in order to win prizes and/or achieve goals.
St. Paul's goal is to achieve the prize of God's call through Jesus Christ. He yearns to share in Christ's suffering and death if such an endeavor will "earn" him resurrection from death. This sort of "training" sounds somewhat morbid and masochistic to my postmodern ears. However, it seems similarly true that Christ's passion and call to "follow him" beckons, no, challenges us to share in Jesus' and Paul's sacrificial offerings.
I know from my own professional, athletic, and spiritual endeavors that it isn't possible to simply to want to achieve a goal without working very hard to achieve it. It is through our earnest faith in Jesus Christ's love and resurrection how we find the spiritual fortitude and perseverance to achieve our Christian discipleship. Rigorous, disciplined practices of prayer, worship, and service strengthen us as we join St. Paul in our races to achieve freedom from death and sin.
It's often relatively easy to identify what goals we desire to achieve from an athletic or professional perspective. For example, I'm mentally and physically preparing myself to complete a century bicycle ride in 2012.
Maybe others will join me in this endeavor. I pray that we'll also continue to work, pray, worship, and play with one another as we labor with one another and Christ in God's Reign.
What " SMART goals " should we be discerning as a Christian Community that will demonstrate our desire to serve The Lord we profess our faith in?
Blessings Along The Way, Jim+
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Sabrina Peelman and Kim Taber intend to travel to Russia this summer as members of the Miami Valley Episcopal Russia Network youth exchange program. They are selling tickets to 
