Godspeed has traditionally been used as a farewell greeting to those embarking on a journey or voyage. It was intended to convey safe travel and goodwill. It has since been reduced to a polite expression of well wishes at the parting of company.
Godspeed however can invoke a much deeper spiritual goodwill offering that the traveler make his/her journey on God's terms. It can easily imply a pray that more then prosperity or good fortune that God is the captain of the journey. That the Lord establish the terms of the adventure and the pace of the travel. God is essentially in the driver's seat and He sets the course, the pace and the nature of what will be.
Suddenly Godspeed seems to be reminding us of the course of our life placing God in the center. Our goal is to allow our Lord to lead the way and for us to wait on Him when we wish to rush ahead and to push through our resistance when we wish to linger. We don't simply take God with us on our trips but rather we travel with Him.
With my Marathon (Run for Religious Freedom) just days away I have come to realize that the perfect race and pace is one in which I continue my grand adventure with God. I know it will be difficult, exhausting and even painful at times. These challenges are what I have been preparing for they are the ways in which I demonstrate my devotion to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and to the cause of Religious Freedom for all.
This course of running inward to make an outward expression more meaningful is what has worked for me. This well defined challenge and predetermined distance sets acceptable parameters tempered and measured discomfort. Oddly enough this arena where pain, self doubt and fatigue is commonplace becomes the reward for all the training logs. It is my Magnum Opus (Great Work). Actually it sounds almost too corny to write and in the spirit of humility I'll leave it on the written page.
Of course at the end of the day the key to success at the marathon or any great challenge is in the not minding that its gonna hurt, that's it, end of story. Upon completion I will have learned a great deal more about myself and my direction. This has been the case in the past and I trust I will not finish without having spent all that I have on the course and thereby reaping all the benefit. The key to my success is Godspeed. It may be what drives tens of thousands of people to the very same challenge.
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