So, here I am at the 2012 DFW Mud Run.

If you look hard enough, you will see that I am the person next to the end on the right. You might not know it unless you look hard. We are, after all, incredibly muddy. So much so, that it might be hard to tell us apart!

We had the time of our lives as we spent the day in a very practical team-building exercise full of running, mud, water, and obstacles. We swam the Trinity River (which surely was not so-named because of its divine attributes). We ran together, as a team, and all found ourselves challenged in different ways. But, one thing, we all discovered was that we are pretty much all the same underneath all the mud.

The picture of us covered in mud is an apt metaphor for the discovery that was made. We are different heights, different hair colors, and different personalities, but we all look alike when covered in mud. Here we are, each of us different and unique in our own way, but essentially we are all the same. We have the same challenges, fears, concerns, doubts…and, yes, we are even all sinful. We are stained by the sin in our hearts.

That reminder does a lot for me. It sobers me to the less-than-empathetic way I treat people sometimes; it brings into focus my commitment to live by the Golden Rule; and it convicts me of the fact that while it is OK to be a “work in progress” covered in sin, I must be IN PROGRESS. Just as the mud didn’t stop us from running the race, the sin in our lives can’t immobilize us either. We continue to push forward toward to the finish line. And, of course, we must run this race together. No one crosses the finish line alone.

It’s strange what you can learn from just a little mud, water, and a few obstacles. But perhaps we should do things like this together more often. I know the lessons from the mud were good for me. Look closely again at the picture and try and find me…I am everyone.