Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Running? Part II

Yesterday, I went to adult chapel at Bethel. It was actually pretty interesting. The new dean of adult studies shared some reflections about his life and that he doesn't really know what he wants to do when he "grows up." Note: he is 56 years old. I have made this same comment quite a bit in the last few months. I just have a strong sense of wanting to do something different.

The dean shared some scripture from Ephesians. When I got home, I was curious to check out the text from The Message (after reading from NIV). My breath was taken away for a moment as I read the words:

1-3In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

This really kind of startled me because for some reason I have been running - this past Saturday I reached the 5.5 mile mark and won the Homecoming 5K a few weeks ago. I have no idea why I'm running. In fact, I remembered writing about this a few months ago. However, I have sensed that is training, training for something. I'm going to keep reflecting on these verses and see if there is any additional clarity.

1 comment:

Justin said...

Todd maybe what you're preparing for is to run the Fall Frolic with a few of us up here in Mishawaka! Would love to have ya join us if you're able to. 10K is not much farther than 5.5 miles!

(ps - on a more serious note - for me, running in the last month or so has been a very Good Thing for my spirit. It puts my physical energy to good use instead of having "idle hands")