Running In Place

Back in my high school days, we had gym class to go with all of the scholastic
classes. We did a wide variety of things and activities but every once in a
while the coach would decide we needed to exercise. One of those exercises
was running in place. While our arms and legs were pumping as if we were
running, we did not go anywhere. It’s a lot more tiring than actually running
outside and putting distance behind you. What the coach got was a bunch of
sweating teenage boys who were creating a thunder of shoes hitting the gym’s
wood floor. It may have been good for us, so he said, but all I got from it was
sweat and tiredness.

Many years later I upgraded to a higher tech form of running in place. I bought
a treadmill. It didn’t have the video screens and interaction available today,
but it did have a few scenarios. I could run on a flat surface or it would rise up
and go down to simulate running on hills. It was good exercise, but it wasn’t
RUNNING! Running to me means going outside to run. Whether it is around
the block or several miles, it was a run. Over the years I put some miles
behind me and wore out some shoes.

A lot of us practice out faith the same way as running in place. We do the
same things in the same ways. We say our prayers by rote and go to a
service or Mass on Sunday because it is just the way we do things, by rote
and by habit. Those who read the Bible daily fall into two categories: the ones
who read intensely, getting as much as they can from God’s word, and then
there are those who set the timer for 15 minutes and read the words, but don’t
get the WORD.

Are you one of those who are running in place with your faith and belief, doing
it by habit and rote? Or, are you out there running through your faith and
belief, getting the maximum benefit from your efforts? If you are in the first
group, then you should open the door and run through God’s world. It will
build your spiritual muscle.