Enjoy the Walk

I had what I used to call a “bad run” the other day.  It was a Sunday afternoon; a beautiful fall day, full of sunshine and golden leaves.  I noticed as soon as I started running that I did not feel right.  Something was off-kilter.  I could never quite get into the rhythm of the run.  My breathing was labored and my knees hurt.  For the first mile told myself that I just needed to warm up, but when the sweat started to roll down my face and I still did not feel better, I knew something else was wrong. 

When I was younger, I used to push through those times of not feeling right.  I thought that pushing through made me a stronger runner, and I would finish the run exhausted and sometimes sick.  Most of the time after such a run, I would take the next 3 or 4 days off without running.  I don’t do this now.  I have learned to listen to my body.  My body knows better than me when I need to rest or channel back a bit.  My body never lies to me.

So, on that beautiful fall Sunday afternoon, I stopped running after 2 and a half miles and I walked through the park in which I was running.  I slowly recuperated and arrived home refreshed and looking forward to my next run instead of exhausted and sick and unable to run.

In the lives that we lead we are often required to run most of the time and when we finally reach the point that we need to slow down, we don’t do it; we push through and arrive home physically exhausted and worn out.    If we do this long enough, we begin to feel spiritually worn out as well.  Although God is at our side in all of our running, I do not believe that God intended for us to live at full throttle all of the time.  We hear God best when we slow down; in the quiet times of prayer, devotion and study.  In the Bible, we read where God spoke to Elijah not in the storm, but in the calm after the storm.  We find that Moses encountered God in the desert wilderness and on the tops of deserted mountains.  Jesus stole precious moments to be by himself to pray and meditate.  John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, began his busy days at 4:00 a.m. so that he could pray, study and meditate.  It is in our quiet times that we are refreshed, recharged and reconnected. 

We all get caught up in the running of our lives and each day we push and push a little harder.  But once in a while we need to slow down, catch our breath, and enjoy the walk.

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