Runner's Prayer Six
>> 5/6/09
Our Father,
Because you are present in all of life, we acknowledge you are with us on this day. Though unseen, we ask that your presence will be more real to us than any other.
We seek a communion with you while running that transcends verbal expression. Be our friend and guide, our helper and sustainer as we seek to complete the distance before us.
Though you are unseen, the work of your hands is evident. Accept our gratitude for the privilege of running through your creation. Give us greater understanding of your plan and purpose for including us in all you have made.
Standing at this place of beginning, we recognize that even the persistent demands of training are a gift from you. Help us to find joy in the fruit of our labor while giving our best effort to this chosen task. Supply grace and endurance in sufficient measure for us to finish well in the face of adversity.
Our common love of running brings us together on this day. By your will and purpose the path of our life intersects with others in this event. Bless all who compete with us. Grant that we may know a sense of solidarity and the bond of community as we run together.
We express thanks that in your wisdom and love we do not make this journey alone. Make us mindful of your presence as we run.
Amen
5 comments:
Beautiful Craig, and so apt.
I thought of you Sunday morning, as one of the runners offered a prayer before our early start. I'll admit to having the thought that I should send him to your site, to read your prayers because they are so beautifully worded. Then I brought my focus back to the words he was saying, simple, plain, to the point. The message was clear, though not nearly so eloquent. It actually diverted me from the thought of running for just a few moments, as I was reminded once again just how important words are to me. Beautiful language paints a picture that speaks to me - in ways that I imagine art or music does for others. When Eric hears a song, he's wrapped in the music, while I am wrapped in the words - we've discussed this many times. Your prayers are special to me because the language flows, the message is clear, the picture is evident. Your prayers are the ones I can carry with me. Thank you.
Wait, there's more.
I do get it - I get that it wasn't the simple words he said, but the act of offering up the prayer, and the thought and emotion behind it. I also get that I shouldn't compare - that I should accept the gift that was given in his prayer. All of those things were important to me...however, the beautifully worded prayer touches my soul and echos in my mind as I run. I hold it longer...I think that's what I'm trying to say.
This was good for me to read today. Thanks, Craig.
Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back with you guys. Pamela and I have been away to attend our daughter’s college graduation and to move the girls out of their respective dorm room and apartment. That’s always an adventure and this weekend was no exception.
Especially when there’s a cargo trailer involved. :)
BOP – Most of my praying is of that simple, plain spoken variety – especially when they are simple expressions of what the heart is feeling at a particular moment in time. I generally talk to God the same way I would while visiting with friends over an order of Red Robin French fries. Praying ought to be honest and heartfelt. Otherwise why bother?
When a prayer is posted for others to read I have the luxury of spending more time refining them. I think there is a place for both the simple impromptu kind of prayer and what many would consider a more formal kind of praying where the words are written down. I’m glad they speak to you and express something of what you feel and think while running.
Like Eric, music speaks to me deeply. If I hear a melody once it is remembered later at the most unexpected moments. It plays while writing sermons, mowing the yard or while running. One of my favorite things to do is to go to sleep with a CD playing. The next day it’s as if the music has been downloaded to my mind while sleeping. It plays in my head as background music all day. I’ve done that since middle school days.
And I love words, the way they are combined in unique combinations to create new thoughts. Maybe thoughts that as yet have never been verbalized. There’s a mystery about how language works, how words printed on a page can evoke emotions and prompt the imagination to see images that exist in one mind and transport them to another mind. Sometimes the description is more satisfying than a photograph.
Prayer for me is part conversation with the One who created us and part an offering of who we are to Him. For that reason I think it’s good from time to time to do some careful, thoughtful work as that gift is offered to the One who supplies so many good gifts to our lives. Among close friends there’s lots of casual conversation. But there are also times when you think about what you want to say because you want to express more deeply and intimately what that friend means to you.
So I think both kinds of prayer are appropriate.
JR – I’m glad it was good for you to read. It might have been timelier if posted prior to your marathon. Sometimes writing projects have a life of their own and refused to be rushed.
About half of the folks who stop by to visit these days come looking for the prayers for runners posted here. So I hope others find them helpful.
My best runs have been filled with gratefullness and appreciation for the gifts I was given. The friends, the beautiful outdoors, and the ability to run. Running is music and prayer to me. It strips away the pretense and self-protective layers to allow honest thought and reflection. Our minds are to busy to play the normal games of ego and doubt. I love that you have the gift to bring wisdom and inspiration to others in your writing. Once again, thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment