The Humiliation Tour is a tale of runners from two distant generations. Jeffrey tells the story of two young men who love to run and who run well, but who have the most bizarre misfortunes befall them. Their stories turn out to be connected, although one lives almost a hundred years earlier. Their lives revolve around running, family, love, public humiliation, and a shared yearning for redemption. As someone who has trained for and finished a 26.2 miles marathon, I understand how stories evolve from running. Each young man makes bad decisions that hinder his progress. But each has a love for his family and for running that keeps him going. If you live to run, read this book. If you think that no one has ever dreamed of having the kind of bad luck that you have had, you may want to read it, too. But their bad luck is not the end of their stories. Neither, in the end, allows their misfortune or family history to determine their destiny. Each one keeps running towards their common goal and both will be remembered as heroes.
Traumatic experiences threaten to drown hopes and dreams. We may suspect that the demons who conquered an ancestor are threatening to overwhelm us. We can surrender to the trauma or we can seek healing. We can sit down and give up on life or we can adjust to our new circumstances, set goals, and live in such a way that we can reach those goals. When we do that, we follow in the example of the apostle Paul, who wrote first of his setbacks, then of his determination to overcome
"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked" (2 Corinthians 11:24-27).
"I want to know Christ, yes to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...But one thing I do Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:10-14).
The two young men in the novel survive their own bad decisions, attacks from competitors, abysmally bad advice from advisors, and exposure to obstacles and experiences that threaten to kill them. Yet each keeps pressing forward, training for their common goal, encouraged by love, and transforming into a hero along the way.
Even if physical abuse, betrayal by a family member or trusted friend, or unexpected losses have rocked your world and shattered your dreams, I encourage you to persist in loving, dreaming, and hoping. I urge you to identify and to train to reach healthy goals. Especially, I suggest that you adopt Paul's goal - to know Christ and to become like him. Keep pressing forward toward hope. End your own humiliation tour and never, never give up!
