Run the Race

Summer vacation is fast approaching. It is always good to get a little rest and relaxation in the midst of the lives God is calling us to live, so that we can run better.

I have had the occasion the last few days to ponder the race each of us is running and the lives we are living because I attended the funeral of a priest who lived to be over a hundred. Now, that's a pretty good span of life by most people's standards, but it wasn't the length of his life that caught me, but the fact that through all the phases and changes and chances of his life, this person continued to live. He fought the good fight. He kept running. He took on the next part of his life with passion and daring and grace and confidence. And he was able to keep "running" (even when walking became a physical challenge) because he held a deep trust in God and knew that he never ran alone. God was with him every step of the way and you could see it as people talked about his life, as though it was some great story or competition that he had won.

That's good news for those of us who sometimes find ourselves slogging along, inching along in the lives we're living. It's good news because it promises that we will have the strength to keep going. It's also good news for those of us who find ourselves in a good place in our lives because this same God is the One who brought us to this point.

I like to think that in whatever I am doing God is somehow involved. God has brought me to this particular point in the course of my life and so I can press on with a deep sense of confidence and hope. And if I have made a wrong turn or find myself in some of the rockier climes of life, I can hold onto the hope that I am not going it alone.

So run your race! Take a deep breath of the Spirit and press on. Open your heart to God's presence and power and grace and run.

Grace and Peace,
WFA