Running a marathon..."the spiritual experience"

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

"Don't look down, keep your head up and look only to what is next in this race", these words were pronounced at the ~ 7 mile of the 2014 NYC half marathon  by the time keeper.  At this point,  I was ready to quit, I was exhausted but these words moved me deeply to focus mi sight on the people who where there cheering me up to keep going.   I didn't even know the crowd at that location but my heart  got filled of joy and I decided to continue on the race and I finished my second race in NYC after the 2011 NYC half marathon.   These two races where my motivation to participate on the 2014 NYC marathon.  

When I started running, it was difficult to keep running for 20 minutes, however, it became an awesome experience when at the end of the training races, a lake or a river was waiting for me to tell me the run is over, you can rest.    

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”(Matthew 11:28-30).   Life is filled of these journeys that make us feel exhausted, depending on our responsibilities with school, work, family or church.  We all have a mission on life and God is calling us to give the best of ourselves and in our humanity, our bodies and souls sometimes get overwhelmed and they claim for rest.   We frequently avoid these moments when we are called to put a minuscule  "standby" in our life, without realizing that stopping means embracing the perfect rest that comes from Jesus.   This precious promise of receiving the perfect rest is meant to invigorate our souls and make our minds ready for next steps on our mission in life.   Running gave me the possibility of learning how important is to rest, so I can perform better next day and during prayer, my burdens have become lighter when I decide to rest on Jesus.   It was a process of many years until I realized that the only source of rest is Jesus.  

Each race was different, however, each of them was an "spiritual experience" for me, as someone told me once, when I described my marathon experience.  The inner strength that kept me moving was from God, my leader.    He pushed me to the finish line, maybe at slow pace, maybe with pain but as always, God was and is within me to run the race and with me to get further and further.

Definitely the 2014 NYC marathon is a metaphor of a life journey.  This long race was filled with moments that put my mind on how God guides my life.

The starting line was sealed with the goodbye from my mom who is my first teacher on the faith and her warm embrace is what encouraged me to be joyful in the beginning of this challenge.  We need our partners on the faith side by side when we start our life journeys, our new projects, our new dreams.

The beauty of NYC is at its bridges and the NYC marathon gave me this amazing opportunity to cross  many of them: Crossing the Verrazano-Narrows, Pulaski,  Queensboro, Willis Ave., Madison Ave bridges were essentially the highlight of the race. 

The marathon starts with the Verrazano News bridge, which is long, magnificent, the probe of the human capacity.  The run starts with this amazing moment of silence, with the beauty of what human beings can create.   I did not run with time pressure so I enjoy my time in the bridge, contemplating the beauty of nature, looking at the body of water between the upper and lower New York bay and the majestic bridge.   Athletes in the last corral, encounter emptiness and silence in this bridge as we do sometimes in life; our projects, our dreams take long to come through and we are waiting for a final ouput and the way that we wait make a difference.   We are not called to stop but we are meant to keep going with serenity, thanksgiving and purpose.

^"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:6-7) With peace on the heart, we are able to contemplate the beauty of God creation in the big and small of everything in life.  When we are able to see beauty in the small that comes from God, we are able to recharge ourselves with energy to cross the bridges, to finish the projects, to accomplish a mission.  

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Keeping the pace and getting to the finish line in the best time possible are the goals of professional athletes.  I admired their endurance and capacity for breaking records year after year.  I am not one of them, I am a runner by heart, only an amateur.  Being an amateur makes injuries difficult to manage, however,  resting, asking for help are ways to overcome these painful situations.  The same happen in life,  we are called to ask for help to our partners on the faith and they walk with us to God through Jesus, with brave love and thanksgiving and we can overcome the difficulties of life without stress but joyful even when we don't feel happiness.      "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Colossians 1:24). 

I pray for your and mine bridges, crowds, silence and pain that are part of life.  As in the NYC marathon, we all need to be encouraged to keep walking on the path to God through Jesus, who is the only source of perfect love, rest and peace in this journey of life.