Running

Several years back I went for a checkup on my knee replacement.  The doctors gave a great report.  I asked if I could continue walking seeing some people that have had knee replacement were told they could not walk for exercise but told to ride a bicycle.

The doc said walking would be good.  I told them that I did not want to wear it out prematurely.  They responded that the titanium knee would last me the rest of my life.  I responded that I had hoped to live to be an old man!  They assured me that it would last and to return to whatever I was doing.

I asked them if I could jog.  At one time, I was jogging three miles every other day.  Every once in a while, I would jog seven miles.  Doing that two days in a row, I decided to stick with the three miles.

I remember jogging one morning when a deacon from my church pulled along side of me.  He smarted by saying, “It don’t matter how much you plowed the mule, he’ll stay fat if you continue to stall feed him.  You need to push back from the table.”  I said, “I jog to eat.”

Back to the doctors.  I asked them what things can I do and they said anything.  I asked if I could play tennis.  They said yes, preferably with partners.  I asked if I could run, they said sure.  I begged please say I cannot run!

Running for me is a sign of punishment.  I remember having to run extra laps when doing something wrong in football.  We had to run when we lost, when practice was not suitable to the coach, when we missed a block or a tackle, and we ran to satisfy the coach.

It is hard for me to justify running, especially since both knees went bad.  I have done my share of running.  I have run chasing pigs, ponies, cows, chickens, and all kinds of animals.  I have run to catch footballs, baseballs, basketballs, and tennis balls.  I have run to catch a ride, to get help, and to be on time.  I have run from rattlesnakes, Doberman pinchers, and bumblebees.  I even ran from girls at one time and ran after them later.

I heard evangelist Jerry Pipes say that he quit running stating is was fruitless.  His reasoning was that God gives us so many heartbeats and he did not want to waste his running.  I agree whole-heartedly.  I wasted two good knees and no telling how many days I took off my life.

I tell people that I don’t run any more.  If you see me running, it’s gonna be real bad.  I have just returned to two miles of walking most days.  Six months later I had my left knee replaced and had to start the walking all over again.

I was out walking my two miles one day when by neighbor came running by me.  I told him I remember when I used to run.  I shook my head thinking to myself, what a waste of heartbeats.  You can get a high running.  The body releases endorphins that act like painkillers.  When I ran, I felt that I could compete in the Olympics.  That was the endorphins doing the thinking.

I worry about folks that run all the time.  I not talking about running here and there, but those people in their funny looking shorts, jerseys, and footwear that run, run, run.  They, along with bicyclists, are kinda weird.  I think they too have had just a little too many endorphins.

Running is a young person thing, but every once in while you read about some senior adult that has had an overdose of endorphins and they run.  Seeing senior adults in running apparel can be an ugly site.  There are things that just ain’t right.

In ancient times, it was considered very undignified for a senior man to run.  Aristotle expressed the same Shibboleth: “Great men never run in public.”  Shibboleth means belief or custom that distinguishes one group from another.  All I know is if I see a senior adult running, I gotta see what’s chasing him or her.

When you think about Aristotle’s quote, it makes us look at the Father in the story of the prodigal son in a different light: I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.  And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry (Luke 18-24 KJV).

In a period when everyone wants to feel warm and fuzzy about church, Jesus reminds those that listen about repentance.  We must return to the Father.

Jesus reminds us in the parable that the Father, who is a picture of God, ran as fast and as quickly as he could to express the longing of his heart to welcome his son home.  Did you get it?  God runs to us.  Our willing to return to the Father unleashes His immense, incalculable responsiveness.