We hear the cliche that some people are so kind they would "give you their shirt off their back."
A few months ago, I encountered one of these people--and he really offered me the shirt off his back.
I was on my third and final iteration up Lookout Mountain on a July afternoon.
The clouds were rolling in.
The rain was coming.
And the temperature was dropping.
Unfortunately, I had made the lousy decision to leave my shirt back at the car for the final trip. It was July after all. What could be the problem?
Bad move.
Especially when it's wet and cold.
Amazingly, my guardian angel appeared.
He didn't appear with wings and a halo however.
But on a Trek 7-Series Carbon Triathlon with aerobars.
He tossed me a jersey and uttered "good work" as he passed me up the mountain.
Whoah.
In my 43 years on this planet I have never had a stranger offer me anything--no less an expensive race jersey--after a 15 second introduction.
It was a gift.
And a reminder.
A reminder that when it comes to conquering the biggest and baddest giants--especially the painful ones--human beings have an enormous capacity to work together.
To be comrades.
Comrades in pain.
Pain is a unifying force.
It is the one force that can truly bring people together and transcend almost any difference.
Republican versus Democrat.
Christian versus Buddhist.
Because when the monster is big, and I mean REALLY big, like when you are running in the middle of the night in freezing rain--things like party affiliation or religious preference begin to look small.
Perhaps even foolish.
It's funny, an hour earlier, this guy on Lookout Mountain and I may have been competing for the same job on Monster.com or speeding to the same parking space at the mall.
But on the mountain that day....
We were fighting a common enemy.
A big enemy.
We were comrades in pain.
So how about this for an idea...
Admittedly, a naive idea...
Instead of another Blue Ribbon panel to bring our leaders together to solve our nations woes, how about signing up our leaders for a RACE.
A big, gnarly race.
The Leadville 100 perhaps.
Where they will confront a daunting challenge far bigger than Republican or Democrat.
A challenge that will require the courage to work together.
And perhaps even require offering up their shirt for a comrade.
To get across the line.
Together.
As comrades in pain.
AMJ
