A Fellowship of Suffering

During the winter months I meet some fellow rowers at 6:30 a.m. four times a week to work out on rowing machines. These machines, called "ergometers," are calibrated so that we know how many meters we row and how hard/fast we're doing it. The photo on the right is of a Concept2 ergometer, the kind that we use.

After a 5 minute warm-up, we row for 45 minutes. By the end of this hour, we are usually tired and sometimes exhausted. However, the tiredness is temporary because the endorphins soon kick in, giving us a feeling of well-being. We vary our workouts so that we don't become bored and some of them are extremely demanding.

I find that I work out longer and harder when I'm with this fellowship of suffering. The word "suffering" applies because rowing is grueling work. I usually burn over 600 calories during these workouts and am left gasping for breath at their conclusion.

There is a spiritual dimension to nearly every kind of physical activity, but working out with others helps connect us in a different way than working out solo. The word "compassion" means "to suffer with" and there is plenty of empathy in our group. We encourage each other and that helps bring out our best performance. The fellowship continues most mornings as we go to breakfast together.

"A Serious Man"

Last night I saw the new Coen brothers movie, "A Serious Man." I'm a fan of their work, especially "Fargo," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "No Country For Old Men."

This was a dark and difficult movie to watch. Loosely based on the story of Job, the main character, a professor named Larry Gopnik, suffers a series of disasters worthy of Job. Set in Minneapolis in 1967 it purports to be a farce about a middle-class Jewish family. However, I left the movie thinking, "I don't get it."

Yes, there are funny moments (a few) and painful moments (many), but there is not much depth and angst in Larry's suffering. Like Job, Larry consults "friends" in the form of two rabbis to shed some light on the question, "Why me?" but their answers are platitudinous and woefully inadequate.

Unlike Job, Larry refuses to lash out at those causing his suffering. The message of the movie (if it has one) might be: bad things happen to good people and good people don't fight back.

While I found the movie painful to watch, the issues it raises about the nature of innocent suffering are real and relevant. If you're looking for answers to the question "Why me?" you won't find it here. But if you're looking for the question to be raised in a painfully insufferable way, this is a movie for you.