Saturday, March 1

Today’s Lectionary Reading: Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34: 1-16; John 7:14-36; 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5; Psalm 25

One of the largest 12 K road races in the world occurs in the area in which I was raised. Spokane, WA has an annual road race called Bloomsday. At its peak the race attracted over 50,000 runners from around the world! As someone who was not a runner, I was always intrigued by how runners were able to motivate themselves to prepare for the race – often months in advance. Training programs at local schools, for instance, would start in the winter months in order to prepare runners for the upcoming race. I wondered how participants in the race could be motivated to train for the spring race in the cold, dark days of winter. Today’s passage from 2 Corinthians speaks to a similar issue of how we can stay motivated in life when the spiritual event we long for seems so far off. Of course the author of the passage isn’t talking about a road race – he’s talking about something far more important. So what does the author have to say? He writes: “The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. God puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less” (2 Corinthians 5:5 – The Message). As we face the daily temptations to break our training habits and lose sight of the finish line, may we draw strength from the Spirit’s presence in our daily lives. May the little piece of heaven in our hearts that we experience each day give us the courage to strap on our gear and continue putting one foot in front of the other. Til next time…