Sometimes when I run a word pops into my head. I end up thinking about that word the entire run; sometimes the entire week. I just keep churning it around in my mind. I’ll use it in a sentence. Play with its cognates. Hear myself saying (in my head; I don’t actually say it out loud). I think about all the ways that word can mean. Not just the simple dictionary definition, but something of its etymology. I think about what that word can tell me about my world, my life, my way of thinking and living that life. I simply let that word tumble around in my head for the whole run.
This week, on Tuesday’s five mile run, the word that popped into my head was the word ‘hegemony.’ It comes from a Greek word that means leader or authority. In ancient Greek culture the word was used to describe the conquest of one city-state over another. The dominant city-state was called a hegemony.
The word is rich with meaning. Not only does it describe the physical conquest as in ancient Greece, but it also covers much more nuanced instances as well. There’s the idea of cultural or ideological hegemonies. It’s easy to see how Western ideologies have exercised a hegemonic influence over much of the world. We are often part of these hegemonies without even realizing it. Our view of the world is so deeply colored by the cultural lens we’ve grown up wearing that we believe it is the ‘normal’ view, the only view, the ‘right’ view, the one the entire world shares. Language can also play an influential role in forming a hegemony. Culture is closely tied to language and language usage. A culture fades and is absorbed by another when its language becomes lost.
All this got me thinking about the hegemonic effect of sin. Sunday’s Gospel lection was from Mark 8.31-38. Peter had just declared Jesus to be the Messiah when Jesus begins to explain what that means. I means that he would undergo great suffering, be rejected, killed, and after three days rise again. Peter didn’t think that that was such a good picture of the Messiah should be and began to rebuke Jesus. That’s when Jesus says (looking at the disciples), “Get behind me Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine thins but on human things.”
It seems to me that this is a pretty good description of what the hegemonic effect of sin looks like: letting human things overshadow divine ones. Jesus continues, telling them that a true follower must deny themselves and take up their cross; that the one who seeks to save their life will lose it, but the one who willingly loses their life for the sake of the gospel and Christ will ultimately save their life. In other words, the hegemonic effect of sin will be broken.
It’s a matter of orientation. Luther talks about how everything that is done, no matter how good, pious, or righteous it is, if it is done outside of faith is sin. It is not so much the thing done as it is the place from with that thing is done—a place of faith or of non-faith. Augustin said something similar when he said it is not so much a matter of willing the good, but the good will; in other words, will from the right place, the right motive.
Sin is that hegemonic place of non-faith. It is that place from which nothing willed can be good because the motive behind the willing is wrong; it is corrupt. It is set on human things rather than divine. By losing one’s self, we align ourselves to the divine through faith. This is the true self we have been created to occupy. This is the true life we gain when our false self is shed.
Anyway, that’s the kind of things that popped into my head this week as I ran. And speaking of running, it was a pretty good week. Only 34 miles, but they were good miles. I was a bit sore starting the week (left over from 20 miles in the rain I think), but as the week went on I got to feeling better. Sunday’s 12 miles at an 8:05 pace felt good. From here on out the miles begin to taper off. Eight miles will be my longest run. Wednesday’s 6 miler, however, will be 10 days before the race, so I think I will run that one fairly quick. I will also have to watch my diet. I need to replenish the glycogen in my legs, but I don’t want to add any weight with my reduced miles (another balancing act).
Once again, there is still time to show your support by making a donation to help provide clean water. $50 provides one person clean water for life. Follow the link to my World Vision Donation Page and become part of this amazing event.
| Week 16 | Run | Ride | Strength/Core | |
| Monday | Rest | |||
| Tuesday | 5 miles easy @ 8:26 | 30 minutes | ||
| Wednesday | 8 miles easy @ 8:26 | |||
| Thursday | 5 miles easy @ 8:30 | |||
| Friday | Rest | |||
| Saturday | 4 miles @ 7:54 | |||
| Sunday | 12 miles @ 8:05 | |||
| Total Run | 34 miles | |||
| Total Ride | 0 | |||
johnagrant 