"When You Run..."

Since I have been running regularly for a little while now, I think about running from time to time. There's a quote from one of my favorite songs of all time (The Weight of Lies by The Avett Brothers) that I think of a lot:

"When you run, make sure you run to something and not away from, 'cause lies don't need an aeroplane to chase you anywhere."

This line usually crosses my mind at least once or twice whenever I go running. Almost every time it does I start to think about the things in my life that I have tried to run from at one point or another...

conflict

work

school

bad habits

responsibility

sleep

God...

The list could go on and on. As I think through all the things that I have run from, two things happen. I realize just how often our response to problems (or things/people/deities that we just don't want to deal with) is running. You'd think after hearing the story of Jonah several times we'd get the point.

The second thing that happens is I begin to see that running away really never seems to pan out. Whatever was demanding my attention that I chose to flee was always still there when I looked back over my shoulder. Sure, I could run for a while and it would be out of my mind, but there always comes a point where we have to look back. And voila! Still there...

So, how do we become people who (to borrow a phrase from some guy who liked to write a bunch of letters) forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead? What can we place before ourselves that makes our running worth something? We are all hard-wired to run (metaphorically). We desire to be about something. However, without purpose that running is useless. I enjoy running, but mainly because the general feeling of being healthier, having to buy new clothes because I shrank out of my old ones, and the time to meditate while I go.

I guess the root issue is about pursuit. Being the pursued in any situation other than love and tag is not a fun place to be. Running with dogs nipping at my heels would be terrible. However, being the pursuer, enjoying the thrill of the chase, and reaching the goals that we set before ourselves...THAT is what we were born to do. So, since someone else already said it better...

"When you run make sure you run to something and not away from."

Blessings,

Matt