High Hopes

Give me help, give me strength
Give a soul a night of fearless sleep
Give me love, give me peace
Don't you know these days you pay for everything
Got high hopes - Bruce Springsteen

God willing, this year will cap off 14 years of running nearly 90 marathons culminating in running a marathon in every state and Washington DC. Its been a long journey through some turbulent times in life. Quite frankly, running has kept me sane and marathons have kept me engaged in the insanity of being sane. With sanity comes high hopes. If you look at Bruce's words above, he appears to be asking God for these things. 

Mathew 21: 21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, ... 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” 

Today, as I got up to finish this post, the verse of the day delivered to my mailbox was this:

Ask, Seek, Knock

Mathew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

In the realm of life, with the struggles and challenges people face, I know that running is a trivial pursuit. However, there are countless stories of how running has changed people's lives giving them hope for a different life, an enriched life. Some Christian purists see the bible as doctrinal, which it certainly is, but without applying it to our daily lives, not finding anything in it that can help with our day would be a sin in itself. With the internet it is easier than ever to search the Bible for keywords, verses, people and put ourselves into the context of what we find.  The Mathew 21 verses above comes from Jesus cursing a fig tree. Yes, the doctrine and context is pure and important but how does cursing a fig tree play into our lives?  Maybe Bruce believes and is asking Jesus for help,strength, fearless sleep, love and peace.

In many ways running a marathon requires these things but in order to receive we must believe, we must ask and we must pay the price.  The price we must pay is in the daily grind of running and training, getting out the door, putting one foot in front of the other, running in the rain, snow and heat, enduring, persevering year in and year out, injuries, aches and pains, sacrifice of time.  The Bible is really the training guide of life and I find comfort in knowing that but I also find comfort in being able to apply it to running.  The Word uses analogies related to running, challenges, endurance, perseverance maybe not in the context of marathons specifically but certainly to the point of application. Again, I am sure that some purists will say that running a marathon and the Bible have nothing to do with one another and should not be put into the same context.  I disagree.  The Bible has everything to do with life particularly the gospel, the teachings of Christ and the good news.  How we apply it to our lives, whatever our pursuits, in the light of its teachings is most meaningful.  I love doctrine as well as application is is why Alistair Begg and Andy Stanley are two of my favorite pastors.

So, you would not know it with this post but this blog isn't about Christianity.  It's about running.  My high hopes this year in running is simple.  Complete a 14 year quest to run a marathon in every U.S. state and DC.  In March I will run the Rock n Roll DC marathon. Although I am not a fan of Competitor who stages the Rock n Roll events, this is one marathon run entirely in DC.  My 49th state will be in Montana, Missoula specifically.  This looks like it will be a great event.  Finally, I will finish in September in Kauai, Hawaii.  I set my sights finishing in Hawaii when I first started.  Although there are many other marathons in Hawaii, most easier, Kauai seems special and it is moderately difficult on a small, beautiful island.  I want to finish on a course that is a challenge (of course, all marathon courses are now a challenge for me). The challenge will represent the 14 years of challenge laid out before me after the 2001 Baltimore marathon.  Kauai will be at least my 86th marathon.  Besides these 3 marathons, I have already made plans for Cincinnati Flying Pig and Baltimore (my 15th consecutive).

Yes, there are other high hopes for my life in 2015 but as far as running goes, this is it.  I will kiss the finish line in Kauai like they do at the Brickyard and then kiss and hug my crew chief, Cynthia Anne who has relentlessly supported me through this endeavor.

Give me help, give me strength
Give a soul a night of fearless sleep
Give me love, give me peace
Don't you know these days you pay for everything
Got high hopes 

What are your high hopes?