Tebow'd.

I've logged like basically no miles (like 3or 4? maybe?) this week because I have a cold.  In other news, I was recently frightened by a kitten and refused to eat dinner because "the different foods are TOUCHING."  I'm kidding, but seriously I smell like Vick's and cough drops and I can't breathe very much but if there is any improvement tomorrow I'm going to spin class because BITE ME, SINUSES.

I'm going to try accounting for the miles I run each week, and maybe this will help me keep track and increase!  I apologize profusely for the slight humblebrag involved, but there's also a large amount of accountability if I actually post how much I run.  Writing "200 feet because I thought I was late to class" will be unacceptable.

I've been trying to figure out an answer to this for probably my whole life, but a minor incident made me start thinking more heavily about it: the concept of praying in public (Public Displays of Adoration?).


The Boy and I were at a diner after running that 5k (I RAN A 5K DID I MENTION THAT I'M REALLY AWESOME), blatantly replenishing about sixteen times the amount of calories that we had burned that morning (NO REGRETS).  We showed up in running attire but at least remembered at the last second to remove our bibs in case that looked way too braggy.  Both of us pray before meals, and this means not just at home or among friends.  Granted, when we're with a group, we'll hold hands and pray out loud, but in public it's just a ten-second silent bowing of the head and giving thanks.

(Also Boy's name is Andrew.  I sound like an asshole when I call him Boy so let's be grownups now, shall we?)

Unfortunately for Andrew, the waitress returned to ask if everything was good right in the middle of his praying.  He mentioned after that this was the first time a waiter or waitress had actually caught him praying.  I kind of jumped in and said "yes, everything's fine!" since I had already finished, but he looked up all startled, because there's honestly no good way to be like "oh yo sorry, I'm sure my eggs and toast are delish but I was giving a shout-out to the Big Guy, didn't mean to ignore you.  How it do?" 

This made me really conscious of how I look if and when I pray in public.  It's not super frequently, to be honest: I pray before exams, I pray before meals, and I'll pray in church (does this count?  Like, before Mass starts?  Other peeps wanna chime in?).  And this is part of a larger struggle I have every day with displaying my faith: am I being a good Christian or an evangelizing jerk?  Am I witnessing or am I pretentious?  Am I engaging people or excluding them? 

I can't think of a better way to pray before meals in public than the mostly-private way I already do.  I live in a world with people, I am not a hermit, and therefore someone's gonna occasionally see me praying.  Is this bad?  I would love to talk to people about my faith...but only if they want to talk to me about it.  Does some minor, infrequent Tebow-ing ruin any credibility I have as a "non-scary" Christian?  I don't want to scare people away, but I also don't want to just never talk.  I've been trying to find this line for years, and I wonder if I'm anywhere closer to it than I was when I started.

Also, to sell Andrew out a little more, he may have ordered an egg-involved dish with a side of eggs.  Yes, you read that right.  And for the record I finished everything I ordered and had three cups of coffee.  We are an awesome and completely disgusting couple, who wants to hang out?