in the cloud

Today, I got to be in the cloud of witnesses as my youngest daughter ran her first organized running event, The Smile Mile.

What a treat.

She had a serious case of the jitters but by race time, she'd accepted the jitters as part of the whole deal.

We walked and jogged together in the minutes leading up to the race and she listened closely to what I said. She settled on a goal - to finish the mile. While she could have shut me out - "Dad, shut up - I'm too nervous to talk" - instead, she listened and asked questions and treated me like her forerunner. Treating me that way gave me a little window into how Jesus might feel when we realize we need Him and listen for His counsel.

When the race began, I got a second window into how He may feel when we listen and act on His word. Just as she and I had discussed, she started the race at her race pace - an easy lope (click 'play' button below).

The rest of the girls dashed out in front. Some of them would only be "heels and elbows" to my daughter's eyes. But others soon had to stop and catch their breath - she found herself passing a few of them.

In the end, she crossed the finish line at 12 minutes, 4 seconds. A respectable time, even for an adult. And she received the medal that awaited her in the chute.

I got to step from the cloud of witnesses that saw her finish, give her a hug and tell her how proud I was - that she'd "kept her eyes on the prize" (see below).

And perhaps one day, she will remember the Smile Mile as a window into how it may feel to finish the race of life and hear, "Well done, good and faithful one."

a pair of quotes

No matter how hard I try, I find my way into the same old jam.
Led Zepplin

Running with Christ, like running in life, is about overcoming.
Josh Christiansen

more on the forerunner

There was another interesting fact about Amundsen’s race to the South Pole and it has stayed with me for almost 25 years.

He and his men found their dog teams ran faster and further if they had a forerunner. One of Amundsen’s men would get out in front of the team on cross country skis. The skier set the pace and the dogs responded.

You can imagine why. Ahead of them was a vast plain of ice and snow – though great mountains rose from the horizon, the near-miles may have offered few landmarks or milestones. No doubt, the sled dogs would have pushed ahead despite the landscape. But having a forerunner ahead gave the dogs someone to focus on keeping them on pace and on course.

Hebrews 12 reminds us to do likewise – to run the race marked out for us keeping our eyes fix on Jesus. Sometimes our lives can seem like a trek through a vast, trackless plain with few landmarks. But Jesus has gone ahead to help us stay on course.

on dog sleds

In the early 20th Century, two teams of men raced to be first ever to the South Pole. The race was between a team of Norwegians led by Raold Amundsen and a team of Englishmen led by Robert Falcon Scott. Both teams took diferent paths to the pole. The wisdom under which they travelled was different too. A few differences made a big difference -- so big that Amundsen's team reached the pole first and returned safely while Scott and his team did not return alive.

In this blog, we talk often about the race of life and following Jesus and how we can't go it alone. I believe Amundsen and Scott proved that, too. Both teams brought dog sleds to Antarctica. But at a key point, Scott's team abandoned the dogs and pushed ahead without the dogs. It was a heroic effort -- they "man-hauled" their gear and reached the pole. But a combination of weather and exhaustion doomed them. They did not return.

Amundsen's team rode the sleds pretty much to the pole and back. It was considered at the time, somehow less heroic. But it was far more effective and realistic -- Amundsen knew they'd likely not make it on their own. Understanding that, they emerged with the prize and their lives.


The same principle that separated Amundsen and Scott holds true in the spiritual race we run in this life. In this life, it is tempting - even heroic - to go it alone. But I have heard it said that Satan wants us alone - separated - then he has us where he wants us. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit as a helper inside of us to guide us and so we wouldn't be alone. And I believe he sends people to run alongside of us to help us in the race.

on the forerunner

Today I went for my long run (up to five miles now).

Met my running buddy at mile 1.5. Fortunate for me, that 1.5 had been a good warmup -- I ws able to tuck in a step behind Dennis and planned to just hold on for about two miles. After that Dennis usually turned for home and I would pull back the pace a little.

Dennis didn't push me through that portion - more like he pulled me. We talked a little about just about everything - from Hebrews to Socrates to giving enough time to our families to our struggles in high school.

The time passed easier listening to Dennis, but I was glad when we approached the corner where he turned for home. In fact, I was huffing pretty good when we got there. I patted him on the back (gave him a push toward home?), and said, "See you later."

He said, "No, I'll stay with you."

"Great," I said on the outside. Groan, I said on the inside.

So we stayed at that pace and I turned in five miles I am now proud of. I just had to focus on the back of Dennis' near shoulder and keep going.

Dennis said that his old running buddy had pulled him along many times. That he never talked much because he was always too out of breath. And that he knew every hair on the back of that running buddy's neck from all the miles he'd followed him through.

He had to focus on the forerunner. By doing that, he got fast enough to qualify for Boston. He'd tuck in and hold on behind a more perfect runner.

The same thing worked for me this morning. I focused on the guy ahead of me and went farther and faster than I could have gone myself. Without him, I'd likely not have even rolled out of bed.

running the race vs. training for it

If Paul wrote a book on running, his words on racing in Hebrews would have been one of the later chapters. Before that would have come all the chapters on training and preparing.

more on the cloud of witnesses

On most morning runs, I return toward home on the same street. One reason for that is I find that two people walk that same street at the same hour most days.

I know them both to have run back in the day. In fact, the man was a dedicated runner - he ran more than a few marathons and valued his running over his a few of his toe nails (his Birkenstocks revealed that the second toe nail always looked ready to fall off and in a perpetual state of black and blue).

He had quite a bit to do with the running thread that runs through the sermons these days at our church (he pastors that church http://orlandocommunitychurch.org/). On Tuesday, as I ran past him and his wife, we slapped hands and he said "good for you young man."

I cringed at that a little - I hardly pass for young anymore, but more important I sensed that he pined to turn in a few miles at a trot himself.

At the same time, his words and the slap of hands gave me a burst of adrenaline that got me a little high for the next quarter mile or so. I knew he 'd already run and that he knew how hard it was and that he recalled it with joy. That gave me a boost that furthered me down the road.