Pre-race Monday

For the Maryville Marathon (this Saturday), the prayer for the day will be (A Course in Miracles workbook 205):

“I want the peace of God.
The peace of God is everything I want. The peace of God is my one goal; the aim of all my living here, the end I seek, my purpose and my function and my life, while I abide where I am not at home.
I am not a body. I am free.
For I am still as God created me.”

I tell you this because my running is a part of spirituality, not a separate topic. This morning I was pondering peace and pain. I take responsibility for the fact that what I see out in the world is my projection. Obviously, I see a place filled with anger, fear and pain. It is my job to realize the anger, fear and pain are in my mind, and bring it to Jesus for healing.

Then, I try to stop and remember peace. I bring my mind to peace. “…feel its soft embrace surround your heart and mind with comfort and with love.” An instruction from the Holy Spirit was necessary, “Spirit Flower, don’t just say the word peace but let it in.” I stop and sit in silence, turning off the incessant ego chatter. Here, I start my day in quiet, offering the inner mental pain to Jesus and allowing the healing peace to surround me. Any pain in my body is the same as any pain in the world, as my body is a part of the illusion. It seems easier for me to feel physical pain and seek its roots in my mind. It is wonderful that I can then give it up.

It is wonderful to just admit, “I am in mental pain.” [We are all in mental pain. I am different in that I am willing to admit it.] Once I do that, I don’t have to act it out. I can take another view of it. I don’t unconsciously go about my life, never getting better or endlessly searching the world for a remedy. My immediate relief is peace. Peace is of God. Peace is freely given, every time I open up to it.

Today, I got up late for a weekday, 3:20! Haha! I did an hour of spiritual reading and then lifted weights and did 40 minutes on the machines on the back porch. I should mention, I lift weights everyday, sometimes twice a day. But the workouts are more the toning variety, although they have produced some well cut biceps, deltoids and chest muscles. I was reading a book on ultrarunning, A Step Beyond. These books keep advising people that if you are older...diminishment, diminishment, diminishment. I am only 50, but been getting better over the past 4 or 5 years. Of course, this book, while informative in some aspects, advised two sets of 20 crunches twice or three times a week. Excuse me! For abdominals, I do 40 sit-ups, 5 planks and 50 crunches once or twice a day!

I think it is important to work out the metaphysics of your personal beliefs about aging. Don't just go along with the general consensus. You'll be better off to bring the mental pain of aging to Jesus and heal it. Heal the root cause, not the symptom; or worse, just go along with the masses. Then run your ass off, lift the flab away and transcend the ego world.

Be an athlete both spiritually and physically.

Ye Haaaa!!!!!

Ride'em cowboy!