You can do it too...

Watching the London marathon on television today served as a reminder of the many years  I've sat at home with thoughts of running it one day.  It's certainly a great feeling knowing that it's no longer a thought, I actually did the training and run the race, not once but five times. Of course the first race is the one that mean the most to me, I remember the excitement, the nerves as I waited on the start line. Questions such as what will be like? How long will it take? How will I cope mentally as well as physically, raced through my mind. That night I had very little sleep and before long I was there at the start ready to go. As I ran along the streets of London with so many people cheering us on it was the most amazing feeling, I was on cloud nine. Crossing the finish line in the mall three hours eighteen minutes later I was elated I had achieved far more than I dreamt I was capable of, surpassing my own expectation.

It is good to reflect because when you do it's extremely humbling to grasp the extent of God's grace, without which none of this would be possible. I am grateful for the encouragement of fellow runners, family and friends who got behind me giving advice and support. The huge crowds that line the streets come rain or shine are always a huge surprise but a great source of inspiration to all the runners. So today a big cheer to everyone who ran, if you feel inspired get your trainers out start training and you never know it could be the start of something that could change your life.

 

Prayers and thoughts for all affected by the Boston explosions.

I am a person not a number

It’s interesting how certain phrases are etched in our minds. In banking a common phrase people used was ‘ I am a person not a number’,  and  of course we’ve all had the call centre experience when all that seem to matter is not you the person but the number, and in some circumstances the call goes no further without it. To run a race competitors are allocated a number and you are unable to compete without it. Thus for the duration of that race you become that all-important number and some people will call out your number to encourage you at various points of the race. As a priest an important and legal aspect to the role is a license from the Bishop. So here again the all-important number.

Yesterday I visited a 93 year old church member in hospital and as I walked into the room his initial reaction was one of surprise, this baffled me a bit. During the visit to my continued bemusement, he kept saying 'I know how busy you are I don’t want to keep you'. It got me thinking about the role of a Priest and how it is perceived by others. Are we seen as people frantically running around doing a number of tasks fulfilling the requirements of a role - the license or because we really care? And of course it has to be because we care.

This morning whilst out running, for the first time in a while I listened to my favourite motivational CD by Matt Redman, 10,000 reasons.  I know that there are more than 10,000 reasons why Jesus cares about us and equally there are more than 10,000 reasons why we should care about others.

Numbers, licenses or whatever is needed in our jobs to fulfil administrative or legal requirements are of course necessary but it is the care, love, encouragement, compassion and kindness that we afford each other that makes all the difference.