Tue 6 Feb 2007
The Struggle of 9:43
Posted by tom cottar under theology
During a recent 6-mile run, two great things happened to me.
First, I shaved some time off my run (6 miles in 58:17–9:43 per mile). Running is a sport in which you have to be dedicated to seeing modest gains. I am. Especially for an [almost] old guy.
Second, I had a revelation why I'm liking this thing so much: the thing that defines us as runners, and as people, is not how we accept victory but, rather, how we struggle with challenges. And running is nothing but struggle. Against time. Against other runners. Against ourselves. Against our body. Against our mind and will. Against the elements.
IMO, we were built for struggle. For work. Not comfort. Our bodies continually adapt to change in its environment in order to overcome. And in extreme conditions, it always fights to stay alive (…because it was created to live forever). Comfort is killing our bodies. It manifests itself in heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc. Those things take away life. Struggle brings life. It seems Paul said something about beating his body in order to make it submit to him…
Spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically it is no different. Growth is struggle. Change is struggle. Testing and trials are struggle. All of which produce maturity, faithfulness, strength, wisdom, courage, faith, flexibility, and trust.
What about the church? Is our comfort killing us? Have we resigned ourselves to comfort? Have we bought (and propagated) the lie that this is a spectator sport?
Yeah, we don't struggle against flesh and blood…..but we do struggle. At least, we'd better.
2 Responses to “ The Struggle of 9:43 ”
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February 7th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Dang, 6 miles in 58:17. I’m deffinetly going to have to step it up a notch.
is the best feeling in the world! And it’s completly up to you and your body, there is no one else who can do it for you or really even help you with it, you just have to DO IT. There is no better parallel to life’s struggles than the struggle on the track, you gotta push through everytime.
I couldn’t have made these points better myself. Something I didn’t understand until I REALLY tied on some running shoes and something that people who don’t run don’t understand is that it’s not about health or losing weight, that’s a plus… but you will never enjoy it or be succesful at it if that is all you are concerned about. I LOVE to run because of the struggle, knowing that you can beat your distance, time or youth minister
See ya at Cap 10!!!!!
February 8th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
ok….truth be told…I was sore later from pushing myself…oh, well.
I think deep down, I can get pretty comfortable (physically and spiritually)sometimes.
Tho, I don’t think you’ll be able to beat your youth minister…I hear he’s pretty ripped.