Page 34 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 10 2024

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WATCH WHERE

YOU ARE GOING

B Y PETER S T OFFBERG

ere’s some interesting trivia. What weird
thing do Plennie L. Wingo, Anthony Thornton
and Ashrita Furman have in common? They’re
Hall American men who hold world records for
walking, but that isn’t particularly strange in itself.
Plennie walked 12 875km from Santa Monica in the
USA to Istanbul in Turkey. Anthony walked 153.52 km
in 24 hours, and Ashrita walked the fastest mile on
stilts. That’s all unusual, but what makes them really
weird is that they chose to achieve their records walking
backwards.

Facing one way and moving in the other direction is
challenging for several reasons, not least of which is
the high likelihood of walking into stuff. Brief research
into these gentlemen didn’t yield any statistics relating
to collisions during training or their eventual record
attempts, but it’s scarcely imaginable that such incidents
didn’t happen regularly.

Our bodies are designed to move forward. The way our
legs, arms and spine bend are clear indicators of this.
Walking backwards is therefore far from optimal and
carries with it the inevitable notion of pointlessness.
So why would anyone chose to do something so painful
and pointless? It’s impossible to know for sure but
perhaps they’re motivated by a need for purpose and
identity. Maybe that’s why Ashrita has set more than 500
other world records. He is no longer Ashrita the health ON SITE SUNDAY SERVICES @ 9h30
store manager, he’s the guy who holds the world record
for achieving the most world records. (Seriously, he www.familychurch.online
does). DAINFERN COLLEGE AUDITORIUM

Are these feats an attempt at establishing a way to be
recognised and remembered? Quite possibly, since In Phillipians 3 in the Bible we read, “Forgetting the past
every one of us needs to know that we matter and that and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to
our lives matter. Without a sense of purpose, there’s no reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize
motivation to do our best. We would be left with only a for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us”. The
dull, depressing cycle of survival. Thankfully, though, author’s divinely inspired reason for living is to become
there’s a better way of realising our value, and it doesn’t more like Jesus, and to influence the lives of others as
involve looking back. He did, for the glory of God our Father, and in gratitude
for the way that He loves us.

Ironically, real purpose and identity don’t come from
looking back. Looking back focuses on past failure. It
doesn’t help us deal with the present, and it robs us of
the future. Trusting in Christ’s mercy and forgiveness
helps us put the past behind us and look forward to
the perfected, promised relationship with our Heavenly
Father.
It may be painful at times, but it’s anything but pointless.
It’s true identity and real purpose.

34 DPL issue 10 2024