… I feel His pleasure

God didn’t make me fast.  I have a long torso and short legs.  And I’ve contributed to the situation over the years by eating myself into what the wretched BMI categorizes as obesity.  As a result I’ve never been much of a runner.  Or athletic at all, really.  I like to read.  I like to eat.  I like to sleep.  But there are (of course) times when I become convinced that fitness and health are of paramount importance.  When that particular delusion strikes I often attempt running as a cardiovascular solution.  Only on a treadmill.  Only in a gym.  And when I do, one of my chief motivational statements is a corrupted version of Eric Liddell’s famous quote, “God didn’t make me fast, but when I run I feel His pleasure”.

So I have to confess that I approached the Hope for Haiti 5K on June 12th with a good deal of trepidation.  I had signed up to participate as a walker.  Which might not seem like a big deal, but it was to me.  I don’t do sporting events.  I even resent sporting analogies in sermons or business meetings (I know.  It was painful for me when Vince preached that whole triathlon series.  Yikes!).  My normal modus operandi would be to volunteer to help at registration or run a hospitality station.  But when Christy and Jaclyn questioned my apparent lack of involvement in the race (I was trying to duck and hide and sleep in that Saturday morning) I thought, just for once, it would be interesting to participate.  Not fun.  Not challenging.  Interesting.  Of course, the fact I didn’t need to attend organizational meetings was a bonus, too.

It was great.

So many people were involved.  People who go to Grace.  People who used to go to Grace.  People who go to Relevant.  People who used to go to Grace and who now go to Relevant.  And a whole bunch of other people besides.  I got there kinda early because I wanted to make sure I could find parking and I’d also messed up my registration and needed a little straightening out (of course).  So I had time to chat with some people I hadn’t seen for a long time as well as with others who’d I’d just seen the day before.  You know that great feeling you get when you run into someone you love in a place you weren’t expecting them?  It was like that doubled and then trebled.  Except the person I ran into was my church.

I think that this was the first time I saw so much of my church out in the real world mixed in with everybody else.  And it was beautiful.  I don’t know what other lessons I’m going to learn this summer while Vince is away on sabbatical but this is a big one.  The church is beautiful when it is in motion.  When it is running and walking and being wheeled in a stroller to help others, especially people in need.

Many thanks to all of you who made that morning possible.  My eyes were opened to a whole new face of what the church can be.  You are all terrific.

Peace, Dave

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