Your Body as a Gift and Vehicle for Growth

I hope some of you will decide to set your course and embark on this adventure in running. Nothing will help shape you and strengthen your prayer life like activity. Repetitive  physical activity is stillness-creating  which will take you spiritually into a place of emptying and hesychiasm. There is a quieting which allows the mind traffic to recede and prayer to come to the forefront. 

These uncharted waters should not overwhelm you as your trusted guide and partner is the road. It is honest, dependable and consistent. You can't fake it you can only show up and participate. The road is a trident partner which sifts through the pretentiousness, the facades, the illusion. It gets real fast.  You will naturally become more astute as your body sweats the impurities of life are flushed out.

Training is a series of marathons broken up into segments over months to stress the individual mind body and spirit in effect rebuilding the person stronger more determined and driven by the accomplishment. A marathon is a delicate balance of confidence in the process, a willingness to just get it done and not assuming too much. Respect the distance the process. It can rebuild us or tear into every fiber of our being.

It can be a daunting task but approaching each one run at a time recalling the good runs and putting the more difficult runs aside for later use. Later in the training and ultimately later in the course of race day you will use those more challenging moments to pull you through yet again. What is unknown becomes familiar and more manageable and less startling.

I love training because the formula is stupid-easy not because it is effortless. I love what it does for my cognition, my focus, my self esteem and the joy which comes from doing what is extraordinary despite personally being unremarkable. It is encouraging to actualize what the human drive can overcome and how a super peak challenge can rewrite a history of failure and uncertainty.

If you don’t run then Start and if you do them join us you will find you are better organized, more productive and energized, You will make healthier food choices and relate to your body as a gift and vehicle for growth. Your spirit will soar as you have hours a week to contemplate in a exhilarating purposeful solitude of prayer. You will approach stress and daily challenges with an outlet and renewed confidence.

Your blood will circulate more efficiently and you will come to understand what you are made of. The distance of the marathon is a challenge for all and it is the place where I found myself my limits and how they actually exceeded my expectations. Glass ceilings we artificially set through family folklore which tell us we can’t is challenged and smashed to smithereens. Parents with one great race you will raise the standard and greatly expand what is possible for your children by your actions through your behavior. They are watching.