A while back, okay, it was 14 years ago, a friend talked me into joining an exercise class with her. It was all the craze at that time to go to ‘Curves’ to workout. It was a good concept, a ‘circuit workout’ where you had eight weight machines in a circle. In between each machine was a 3’x3’ platform that you would do calisthenics. (Most people just jogged in place). You would exercise at each station for 30 seconds, then move to the left until you completed the circuit. I was losing unwanted pounds and having fun for a few months. Soon I got a little bored, and that’s when things went sideways.
I wanted to make things more interesting. I decided to do an experiment. Each time I was on the platforms, I would do different exercises, and see if I could l get people to play ‘follow the leader’. The first platform, I did jumping jacks. As I was working out on the leg press, I saw that 4 people were doing jumping jacks on their platform rotation. Then I moved to the next platform and began doing arm circles while jogging. 5 people did this with me, and when we changed stations, all 7 people did the same. I was on a roll, without saying a word! Monkey see- Monkey do. After a few platform rotations, I decided to go BIG! We accelerated to lifting one knee at a time and clapping our hands under that knee with a little skip. It was time to take it to another level! This time, I began doing ‘rocking horses’, where you put one leg in front of the other, and rock your entire weight back and forth on each leg, with my arms straight out. I looked like an idiot. As people followed my lead, I got tickled, I laughed to myself so hard, I lost my balance. I stepped on the edge of the platform and rolled my ankle so bad that I hit the floor. I got up immediately, and continued as best I could, like nothing happened. I didn’t want anyone to know I had actually hurt myself. I limped to my car, pretending that I had completed the circuit. For the next couple of weeks I had a hard time walking. The swelling and bruise was more than I had anticipated and was not getting any better. I finally had to give in and go to the doctor, who sent me to an ortho surgeon the same day. I didn’t want to admit that I had torn the ligaments in my ankle while secretly trying to get people to follow anything I did in an exercise class! Long story short, I ended up in a boot up to my knee for 16 weeks, with 3 months of physical therapy. Not only was I wearing a boot, but I gave myself the boot from that class. That’s what I get for trying to entertain myself by messing with people.
As I sat there with my swollen leg, ankle, and foot elevated for most of that 16 week period, I couldn’t help but laugh at myself, and the fact that I… no one else… had brought on all this pain and this mess. When I think of the apostle Peter, I think of all the dumb, silly things he did in the 3 short years that he walked along side Jesus. Peter kept putting himself in awkward, uncomfortable situations. For example, when Jesus wanted to wash Peter’s feet along with the other disciples, Peter asked Jesus to basically give him a bath. Then Jesus caught up with the disciples after he had sent them back across the sea. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they first thought He was a ghost, but Jesus assured them who He was. Peter wanted to walk out there and try this out himself, but he lost faith and began to sink in the middle of the sea. Right before Jesus was hung on the cross, Peter cut off a soldier’s ear, then 3 times said he didn’t know who Jesus was. These were all awkward situations, that Peter brought on himself, and each time he was only thinking about himself. I didn’t ask Jesus to give me a bath, or try to walk on water, or even say I didn’t know Jesus, but what I did do, is get other people to do silly things for my own entertainment. In doing that, I paid the price of a messed up ankle. We are told over and over in the Bible that we should love others as ourselves. If I loved each of those people in that exercise class the way I should have, I would not have used them to entertain myself, and I would not have been doing goofy things that led to me hurting myself.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:7-8
