INTRO: YHC wanted to do something a little different this morning, so he did.

13 men played along. Well, most of them.

THANG: Run to the football stadium by any route you want. Once there, the PAX ran striders – run from goal line to the opposite goal line (not a sprint, but not a jog either), walk to the back of the endzone, walk to the goal line, then run back to the other side. Most men ran between 8-10 striders before time was called. Run back to the AO by any route.

Numberama, Namerama, Pledge, Announcements:

BOM:

DEVO: Salt. Can you think of any mineral that is cheaper or is easier to acquire? I mean, in a few weeks I will be dumping 200# of the stuff in my pool. Highway crews spread millions of pounds of the stuff on the roads in the winter. The Federal gov’t stores our oil reserves and dumps nuclear waste in salt mines. The Federal gov’t also warns us to not use too much of the stuff on our food.

So if salt is nothing special, why does Jesus proclaim the faithful to be “the salt of the earth…the light of the world” in Matthew 5:13-14? How is being “salt of the earth” a compliment?

To answer that question, we need to understand that up until the Industrial Revolution and beyond, salt was traded and controlled like petroleum is today. To repressive governments, control the salt and you control the people. Cortez conquered South America by driving the indigenous people inland and depriving them of salt. The British gov’t passed laws in Colonial India that made it illegal for Indians to even pick salt up from the ground, which drove Gandhi to walk 240 miles to the coast to pickup salt in civil disobedience during the Salt March in 1930. Salt allowed people to preserve meat and produce, so that one did not have to fish, hunt or harvest everyday to eat. Salt-cured food fostered global exploration by allowing expeditions to cross the vast oceans without the crew starving or depending on the sea for provisions. Salt can also be used to cure infections. But most importantly, salt is an essential mineral for human survival by maintaining muscle and nerve functions, and regulating fluid and electrolyte levels. We cannot live without salt.

I believe Jesus was saying the faithful, like salt, are essential to humanity’s survival, and help regulate the morals of humanity. Like salt, you miss the faithful when none are present. And like salt, the faithful make our culture a little more palatable.

Moleskin: Upon telling the PAX that my planned route included a stop at the stadium, City Slicker, as only a city slicker can, immediately says, “Man, I’m not low crawling or carrying sandbags or any of that shit.” I love that guy. Also, welcome back Plan B. Keep hitting play, brother.

INTRO: 37deg, perfect for running. 13 men got just a little stronger this morning.

THANG: We ran the Presbyterian Cow route. Sub 8:00 guys ran it forward, the super 8:00 guys ran it backwards. You know, just because.

Numberama, Namerama, Pledge, Announcements:

BOM:

Moleskin: Be thankful for the pain and suffering that you feel while running, because someday you will not be able to run. TODAY is NOT that day!

INTRO: In a previous life, YHC organized an annual adventure race and competed in many more. This morning at Tremor, the PAX got a small taste of adventure racing and the joy of competing with a teammate to find checkpoints scattered throughout downtown Sville. The PAX paired-up and created mashed-up team names for themselves: Floppy+Hollywood=Floppywood, Peg+Pretzel=Preg, Schrute+Space Cowboy=Shrute Space, Milton+Snap-on=MiltOn, Splinter+Muscadine=Splidine, Code Blue+Grits=Blue Grits, and Stalker+Show Me=Stalk Me.

14 men searched an expanded Tremor AO looking for punches this morning.

THANG: With your teammate, plan a strategy, then make your way to as many of the checkpoints as possible in 45min. Once there, punch your map with the provided hole punch. The team with the most punches wins. Scores were:

Floppywood – 6, Preg – 6, MiltOn – 6, Stalk Me – 5, Splidine – 5, Schrute Space – 3, Blue Grits – ?

Numberama, Namerama, Pledge, Announcements:

BOM:

Moleskin: Work is made easier when A) You’re doing it with a partner, and B) You’re having fun in the process. And I guess this can also be the devo. Splidine’s score is amazing considering Muscadine realized, AFTER the run was over, that the print on the bottom of the map tells the teams EXACTLY where the checkpoints are located. The Blue Grits respect duo was handicapped by the lack of reading specs. And Show Me breathed an audible sigh of relief when he realized I was asking him to hold the map and not my wiener when I stopped to pee.