Oct
28
Running the Race Well
October 28, 2007 |
There comes a point in any endurance race when you want to give up - and you find a way to push through. And then when you cross the finish line, the feeling is as glorious as anything you could ever hope to experience.
As a runner, today’s 2nd Reading is one of my favorites among all of St. Paul’s writings (2 Timothy 4) - “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
Life is a race - and we are measured by how well we compete, how well we run it.
Do we run the straight and narrow or do we deviate down side roads and lost trails? Do we run fast and then burn out or do we run steady - never too fast, never too slow?
Do we look to Christ to set our pace or do we try to figure it out on our own? Do we look to the Holy Spirit to guide us or do we insist on our own GPS system? Do we look to the Holy Mother, St. Joseph, the saints and angels, and each other to sustain us or do we blindly go on without anything in reserve?
Have we given up? Have we decided it’s too hard? Have we decided that the finish line is too far away and we can’t possibly make it? Have we lost touch with the other runners and the crowd? Do we look to the crowd and think we’d be better off with them? Have the water stations along the way gone dry? Is our mind and our body trying to tempt us into believing all of this effort isn’t worth it?
Anyone who runs any sort of long distance asks themselves - why? Why am I doing this? Who would care if I just quit?
Well, Christ cares! He wants us to run the race and compete well - by living the life he wants us to live. He wants us to stay on course - by following his path. He wants us to finish the race - by reaching our reward of everlasting life.
But we need to look to him to get us to the finish line. Psalm 119 proclaims - ”Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.” If we look to Christ, our path will be well lit and we won’t have any problems finding our way and finishing the race. If we give up or only look to ourselves, our path will be dark and we will stumble and fall, and lose our way. And if there is a precipice ahead, well we better enjoy the trip down.
Let’s look to Christ to light our path and give us our strength to persevere, and let’s run the race well.
Everlasting life is a race everyone can and should win. It’s just a matter of how we choose to run the race and whether we have the will to win.
Photo: 1896 Olympic Marathon
