Marathoning...

I doubt that is a real word. And I'm also not writing this post to declare my future intentions to run a marathon. Though, at some point I would like to do that. No, I'm thinking of a different type of marathon.

We live in a society of sprints. We have to run and get "fast" food. We have day planners to ensure that all the different sprints we run throughout the day go as planned. We have instant publishing on the internet, and sometimes amazon takes too long, so we go to the store and pay 10% more for the same book.

We sprint to work, sprint home. We sprint through conversations and relationships. We get impatient with "warm-up" conversation. We sprint through playing ball with the dog, or we microwave the dinner instead of using the crock pot.

I think usually are propensity is to declare the United States to be at fault for all of that. But really, I think the United States has just perfected a millennium old problem. We are incredibly impatient.

I go from very committed to somewhat committed to not caring at all about my own personal fitness program. Why? Because I can't microwave it. I am not back to 190 in a few weeks, so I despair. There is no way to sprint to good shape... well, not figuratively (because if I regularly and consistently sprinted every day for a long time, I would be in great shape). We can't cut corners on something like that. It just doesn't happen.

The same can be said of our spiritual lives. I want very much to be the pastor, and more importantly, the kind of person that is worthy of heaven immediately. And when it doesn't immediately get easier, I despair and give up. Why can't it be a sprint? Why can't we microwave our souls into a perfect temperature to relate to God and others?

I suspect that the process is as important as the end result. I think that in this case the trials and tribulations of running the marathon are part of what makes us "heavenly" people. Some things can be rushed. But some can't. I suspect that truly being a person that knows God and others can't. I think God would love it if we could just make a decision and sprint in to instant holiness. But I think to truly become holy we have to go through the refining process of running when our feet hurt. Of continuing when our legs burn. Of falling down and refusing to stay down because we haven't made it to the finish line yet. I hope I can someday make a good marathoner...