I never thought that I'd have enough material from running a single 10K race to blog about for the next two weeks, but I think I do. That should be interesting.
Each entry will most likely be a little shorter than what I wrote during the Lenten season, but I am sure it will continue to be a positive experience for me, and I hope that it will be a positive experience for those who take the time to read what I write.
The 10K was called the Sole of the City. Cool in some ways that it would be called "sole". Obviously that is a reference to the running shoes sold by Charm City Run, my favorite running store. The day before the race, one of the few 10K runs in Baltimore City proper, I was honored to be featured as the runner highlight by the store (see the link here). The picture in the feature was taken last November. If I had it to do over again, I'd put in the picture that someone from the store took at the end of the race yesterday. It is a much better picture that you can see here. I say that the name of the run was ironic as I have focused so much on spiritual and physical well being--the well being of my body and soul. And this 10K was obviously both a good use of my soles and goof for my soul.
I don't usually write about finding a relationship between my times at the half way point in the race and some connection to the Bible, but I will tonight. First, let me point out, I don't know where the exact "official" half way point was. But when I took a data dump from my GPS watch today, I looked at the 5K time--sure enough it was 21:17 (actually it was 21:18 at 5003 meters, so by extrapolation with the next earlier reading from 21:13 at 4985 meters). While I was making dinner tonight, I had been thinking about different Bible verses and relating them to my writing and the thought of "Feed my sheep" came to me. It is appropriate for the Easter season. Sure enough, where do you find that? John 21:17.
Why do I find this interesting? And what will I spend writing about for the next two weeks (or more)? Well, I have recently been emailing with a friend. She reads this blog and can comment if she wants to be named. For right now, it suffices to say that I have known her since my days as an undergrad. I had respect for her writing, ideas, and leadership back then. We went years without being in touch. We are back in touch now thanks to Facebook. She has read some of my blog materials and seen many of my pictures of food on Facebook and encouraged me to write a book. I think that the ideas around my writing and around my cooking and my running all come back to the end of the verse in John 21:17--"Feed my sheep."
Why? It would be a great title for a book of reflections. Especially if many of those reflections centered around Bible verses and food. There can be so many different meanings to the phrase "Feed my sheep."
Am I particularly qualified to feed God's sheep? I don't really think that I have anything on the next person when all is said and done. I am not more holy. I have not spent that much more time studying religion. I am not smarter. I don't have more common sense. I just like to think. I like to write. And I like to try to make sense of life. If my journey and quest to explain life helps to "feed" others' needs for spiritual guidance, then so be it. I am glad that others can share.
This is one of the less organized entries I have written in a while. It is, right now, mostly just stream of consciousness. I think that the key will be for me to pull ideas into a coherent format to share them, to begin to shape the idea for a book, and to express all the insight I gained from one race.
Life is good. God is great. And there is always so much to learn.
Each entry will most likely be a little shorter than what I wrote during the Lenten season, but I am sure it will continue to be a positive experience for me, and I hope that it will be a positive experience for those who take the time to read what I write.
The 10K was called the Sole of the City. Cool in some ways that it would be called "sole". Obviously that is a reference to the running shoes sold by Charm City Run, my favorite running store. The day before the race, one of the few 10K runs in Baltimore City proper, I was honored to be featured as the runner highlight by the store (see the link here). The picture in the feature was taken last November. If I had it to do over again, I'd put in the picture that someone from the store took at the end of the race yesterday. It is a much better picture that you can see here. I say that the name of the run was ironic as I have focused so much on spiritual and physical well being--the well being of my body and soul. And this 10K was obviously both a good use of my soles and goof for my soul.
I don't usually write about finding a relationship between my times at the half way point in the race and some connection to the Bible, but I will tonight. First, let me point out, I don't know where the exact "official" half way point was. But when I took a data dump from my GPS watch today, I looked at the 5K time--sure enough it was 21:17 (actually it was 21:18 at 5003 meters, so by extrapolation with the next earlier reading from 21:13 at 4985 meters). While I was making dinner tonight, I had been thinking about different Bible verses and relating them to my writing and the thought of "Feed my sheep" came to me. It is appropriate for the Easter season. Sure enough, where do you find that? John 21:17.
Why do I find this interesting? And what will I spend writing about for the next two weeks (or more)? Well, I have recently been emailing with a friend. She reads this blog and can comment if she wants to be named. For right now, it suffices to say that I have known her since my days as an undergrad. I had respect for her writing, ideas, and leadership back then. We went years without being in touch. We are back in touch now thanks to Facebook. She has read some of my blog materials and seen many of my pictures of food on Facebook and encouraged me to write a book. I think that the ideas around my writing and around my cooking and my running all come back to the end of the verse in John 21:17--"Feed my sheep."
Why? It would be a great title for a book of reflections. Especially if many of those reflections centered around Bible verses and food. There can be so many different meanings to the phrase "Feed my sheep."
Am I particularly qualified to feed God's sheep? I don't really think that I have anything on the next person when all is said and done. I am not more holy. I have not spent that much more time studying religion. I am not smarter. I don't have more common sense. I just like to think. I like to write. And I like to try to make sense of life. If my journey and quest to explain life helps to "feed" others' needs for spiritual guidance, then so be it. I am glad that others can share.
This is one of the less organized entries I have written in a while. It is, right now, mostly just stream of consciousness. I think that the key will be for me to pull ideas into a coherent format to share them, to begin to shape the idea for a book, and to express all the insight I gained from one race.
Life is good. God is great. And there is always so much to learn.
No comments:
Post a Comment