Profane Prayers…
March 26, 2005
I love seminary and the odd-ball assortment of people who end up here. We’re really odd. Some of us have very odd things that happen to us (stay tuned on pomomusings for the most bizarre email ever received because of this blog). Some of us are just plain goofy, and we laugh at stupid seminary jokes. Some of us, especially at Princeton, are just plain awkward. Anyway…this is who we are. And I love these people. One such example of said odd persons is Dave. I love the guy…he’s a great brother. And he’s a fabulous writer. He’s doing a series at his blog, Uplummox, called True Stories. His third True Stories entry is a wonderful story of running the mile in fifth grade. He relates the story, which is a must read, and I can only give you this as a bit of a hook to get you over to his blog to read it — really good stuff folks.
I was still a pudgy nerd-child running laps, only now I was quoting Scripture to myself. So, as was (is) my wont in times of frustration or stress, I started swearing. “Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Fuck. Shitfuck. Fuckshit. Fuckfuckfuck.” Only I didn’t want to just swear, and cease preaching Scripture to myself. So, in an interesting adaptation of the text, I mixed my curses in with Paul’s own words: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Shitfuck. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Shitfuck. Fuck. I can do all things…” I said that to myself over and over again for the last few minutes of my sixteen-minute odyssey, until I crossed the finish line and collapsed into a breathless nerd-heap.
Posted in Random
Adam Walker Cleaveland: 
March 26th, 2005 at 8:31 pm
i should probably be ashamed that i think this is both very very funny and very very real, huh?
March 26th, 2005 at 9:20 pm
I see no need for shame. This IS so funny and so real. God’s cool like that.
March 26th, 2005 at 10:04 pm
Yes, I remember praying something like that. And I don’t have to go back as far as the fifth grade! What amazing honesty!
Thanks for sharing this, Adam! I’ll check out his blog for more.
Happy Easter! Christos Aneste!
March 30th, 2005 at 10:56 am
You know I love this post….