I did a brick yesterday, which in triathlon parlance means that I combined two events into a single workout, in this case a 21 mile bike ride with a 2.2 mile run. I mentioned a couple of days ago that I sometimes use these instances to pray, to seek a deeper understanding with God; I used to use it (a lot) for when I was angry, particularly with God.
Yesterday, my friends Kathy (with whom I went to Belarus) and Gene lost their 16-year-old son, Donald, in a one-car accident. The details are still sketchy. It was, apparently, the first time Kathy had let her son out of the house to go for a drive with his friends. Mere words alone cannot express what I am feeling and thinking, but I spent a lot of time on my run praying for them. If you are in the habit of praying, please take a moment to lift them up.
I also spent some time thinking and praying about Logan, the grandson of my friend Roger. Logan was born with Cerebral Palsy and a host of other medical complications. It has been a long and twisted road, but Roger's faith keeps him upright (I honestly don't know how he does what he does most days) as does his family's, and they inspire me. More so, Logan is a fighter. I kept seeing that "Little Guy" on yesterday's run, and every time I thought about quitting I remembered him and how hard he fights. He is back in the hospital this week because he wasn't able to eat on his own. He is starting to eat again and indications are he is going to be okay and is getting what he needs. But again, if you pray, take a moment to lift up Logan and his family.
Thinking about all of this, I picked up my pace. I hurt. I thought about Kathy's pain and Logan's fight, and asked God to give them understanding. He told me there would not necessarily be understanding, because there is no way to understand things like this. I asked Him for healing for Kathy and Gene and their family, and for continued strength for Logan and his family, and that seemed to be the right thing to be asking for. There were a lot of other things that I thought about, felt, said on this run. Anyway, this was a pain run, where I pushed hard, but the pushing felt good. The pain felt good.
3 comments:
There is a saying that shared joy is twice as joyful and shared pain is only half a painful.
I hope that is true as I have no answers but can only share in your pain. Thank you for giving me the oppurtunity.
Thanks for that, my brother. I'm beyond even trying to find answers in this. You're a good man.
Keep up the bricks. You need to be strong and push forward to support your friends in their moments of pain. Godspeed.
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