Running brings me incredible joy. It's not work or drudgery for me...I so look forward to every opportunity, and lately, the longer the better. It takes a few miles for me to start feeling the groove, but once I'm in the zone it's pretty much effortless. My mind wanders, especially early in the morning when downtown Asheville is still asleep and I get to pick and choose my path. My runs are therapeutic, energizing, stimulating, thought-provoking, and stress-relieving. I can't imagine life without running. During this morning's run, I thought back to the Casting Crowns & Kutless concert the other night, when the lead singer for Kutless, Jon Micah, asked us if we'd still worship the Lord if we lost everything. He told the story of Corrie ten Boom, who was a Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor sent to Ravensbruck for harboring Jews. Her sister died in camp, but she survived - still able to worship and praise God despite incredibly horrific conditions. Everything was taken from her - except for her spirit and her faith. I just finished Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning", and he writes about his concentration camp experience.
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." He goes on to write "I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved".
The Bible's Job is an incredibly wealthy, successful, faithful man who loses everything and still is able to say "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord"
And I wonder, If I were to lose everything that I loved - including the ability to run, would I still praise God? Is my faith shallow-water or deep-water? If my faith is shaken by the loss of just a piece of my life - not all of my possessions and all of whom I am - then it's clear I'd not be capable of the same responses I've shared above. But it's certainly something worth considering and striving for......surely on our own, it's not possible. But with Him, it is ALL possible. And I've learned that while running brings me joy, it is not the Source of my joy! BELIEVE.
This is good stuff. Very inspirational and thought provoking. Many of us have spent our lives accumulating, and not giving freely of time, money and charity work. I will make a conscious effort to do more living today, and not for tomorrow. Thanks man.
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