Morning Run

My dad used to say, "What's good about a morning that begins with getting up?" Well, aside from the fact that being able to get up is generally an indication that God has gifted you with one more day that is...

I'm a neophyte, painfully slow but inordinately determined runner. My longest distance so far has been a 10k. I've tried to run in the evening, or in the afternoon, but I can convince myself that there's this that or the other 15 things that need to be done. It's easy.

However, when I go for a morning run... I can't do that. It's the first (well, okay, getting the daughter to band, the husband on the road to work, and the son to school are the first thing) thing I do. I also find when running in the a.m. that my thoughts turn to God...

I find myself singing the Nicene Creed in my head, or Holy, Holy, Holy... or Mary's Magnificat.... I pray for those on the church intercession list, for my own family, for the neighbor's in the homes I run past... for the kids on their way to school. It's not the only time I pray... but there's something about running that on a purely unconscious level does that.

The rest of the time, I have to consciously pull my mind toward Him. It's an effort because the world, and culture has so much that isn't of Him. Running frees me from that. It's purely informal and sometimes as I gasp, wheeze and huff up a hill my prayers become very selfish... Lord, please, help me get up the hill. Still... this is my first prayer time with God, before the morning prayer, or devotion... before anything else... I meet Him while running. Maybe C. S. Lewis had it right when he said... "If one could run without getting tired, I can't imagine wanting to do much else."