2020: Bonking on the 20th Lap.

They say life is a marathon, not a sprint. 2020 only proved that to be true. The turn of the century began a new race, and on the 20th lap around the sun we hit the runner’s wall... runners often refer to this reality as “bonking.” Bonking is essentially another word for hypoglycemia, or having abnormally low blood glucose levels, in the middle of a rigorous workout. This happens when we have depleted our storage of carbohydrates—more specifically, sugar—to burn into energy; think of a car that’s out of gas. Bonking typically happens in runners around mile 20...

Define irony, right?

However, bonking is not all bad! It actually teaches us A LOT about the human body inside of which this craziness occurs.

Likewise, the evidence of our world bonking can be spun into a major positive when we look toward what it taught us:

- Australia’s wildfires taught us that the earth is fragile. - The global pandemic of COVID-19 taught us that our life is fragile. - The killing of innocent lives taught us that our souls are corrupt. - Many of those killings coming from those who vowed to “serve and protect” taught us that nobody is without corruption. - The deaths of our childhood heroes taught us that nobody is invincible. - Social distancing taught us that no person is an island and we have an inherent need for community. - The ongoing struggle the experts have had at figuring all of this out has taught us that humans are limited and don’t have all the answers.

•••

It’s weird, this was not my intention, but I realize now that 2020 has taught us our need for a Savior—the first half of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

[Reread the emboldened portions above.]

My hope and prayer is that in 2021 we will witness the second half play out in an equally major way.