uphill, downhill

(it's like how your parents walked to and from school...uphill both ways)

Uphill, Downhill

The Sunday afternoon weather was fabulous, especially for February.  So I took the opportunity to take my run outdoors, away from the gym, the treadmill and the four walls.  Treadmills take you on a flat run by default; no hills are included unless you request them.  Not so on a trail.  Logic tells me that while traveling a circuitous route, that stops where it starts, every uphill change in elevation must be balanced out by a downhill change.  Funny how it rarely feels that way.  The uphill sections seem daunting, challenging and never ending.  The downhill section fade into your memory as soon as they are complete.

“So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “… Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:2-3

Most people can easily name the worst thing that every happened to them…maybe even a top ten. We can even list all the challenges we see on the horizon for the near term.  Less certain is the ability to recount the times when things were easier, where the path was straighter and wider.  Or to quantify how much simpler the future is with God at our side.    That’s why Jacob’s altar is important…it’s built to remember God’s provision in both distress and good times.

I hope we can all find that balance too.

  

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 35

Teamwork

(we can do more together than we can do alone)

Teamwork

The 2012 London Olympics were perhaps the most intriguing games I have seen.  There was the participation of a paraplegic runner from South Africa, a medal-winning, legally blind archer and the continued domination of Usain Bolt, the irrepressible Jamaican sprinter.

One of the most fascinating events is the men’s 4x100 meter relay.  The track is packed with 32 athletes all waiting to carry out their share of one lap around the track.  The action is fast and furious with batons passing, hopefully, within the designated zones.  With Bolt running the anchor leg, the winning Jamaican team posted a time of 36.84 seconds. That time was more than 7 seconds or 16% faster than the winner of the individual 400-meter race!  The pooling of the right collective talents can surely produce superior results to our own best efforts while standing alone.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  Hebrews 10:24-25

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to pool our talents within the church, our work and our community as well; to spur each other on, to root for the other person and to achieve collective success.  God doesn’t call each of us to win the world for Christ all by ourselves.  He doesn’t call us to help all the hurting people of our city all by ourselves.  But when we work together…each playing to their gifts and strengths?  That’s when circumstances can radically change.

Keep up the good work… and pass the baton when it’s time!

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 6, Number 46

I Do Not Run

(running for more than just the exercise)

I just started back running after taking some time off to heal a foot injury. Funny how you can miss something more than you thought you would. Watching the calorie counter go higher and higher on the treadmill was always a treat. And spending time alone with my thoughts and prayers was a real blessing. I sure hope it works out this time.

A couple years ago I ran in a marathon relay with four friends. We had shirts with this Biblical excerpt on the back, “I do not run like a man running aimlessly”, (1 Corinthians 9:26). Now that verse can surely provide some comic relief out on the road! We may not have been aimless, but I certainly felt like we were staggering at times, even with that big blue line painted down the center of the road.

To get the real meaning of what Paul was saying we need to look at the verses that precede verse 26, “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” Paul is encouraging us to live and work with a purpose; to set goals for our life and move towards them. Don’t just look busy. Don’t just keep busy. Don’t just run around aimlessly. Be focused. Be intentional. Take care of your spirit, mind and body. Run for the prize.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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