I was on the trail well before sunrise today. I had to be home by 8:00 to entertain the boys so Amber could get ready to go see some of her patients. I ran the east lake with Gary and then did then did both lakes with Gary and Chris. I hadn't run with Chris before. Great guy. I ran 11.7 miles in 1:26:20. I didn't realize this happened until after the run, but the Garmin 305 auto-spilt had us picking up the pace each mile: 8:11, 7:49, 7:41 7:40, 7:37, 7:26, 7:06, 6:53, 6:52, 6:50, 6:49, and 5:20 (.76 miles). I was blessed to be tapering for a marathon and up against a time constraint: they averaged 6:21 for the last 4.5 miles.
I got the forcast for Boston for a week from Monday: 46 degrees and cloudy. Perfect conditions for a marathon, unlike this morning. It was cold, dark, and windy at 6:00 a.m. The wind chill index was four degrees above zero. We did see one runner keeping it real by wearing shorts. We also enjoyed a beautiful sunrise.
(Photo: Gary Dougherty -- www.ndorfnz.com)
Earlier this week a friend ask me what the big deal was about Easter. I talked with her a bit about it. After talking to her, I think her question was: "So what is different about Christians on the day after Easter?"
Our kids, some who will still be on a high from too many Easter eggs, will return to school. Most of us will go to work at the same job we did last Monday. A few of us might want to investigate about the possibility of getting our taxes done before next Monday. We will be busy. The weather will be about the same, hopefully a little warmer and a little less windy. We will live in the same houses. Creighton will still have the same basketball coach. Nebraska probably will too. Football season is closer, but it is still not late-August yet.
So what will be different? Well, for some the answer is absolutely nothing. For others, something will be different.
Death is natural. Loss is natural. Grief is natural. Pain is natural. But Jesus came to the world to trade places with us. Our sin became his sin. His life becomes our life. We have problems with our life. Jesus is the carpenter who can construct us into the wonderful image of God that we are created to be.
When the stones were rolled away from the tomb, something really unnatural happened. On that day, the dead came to life. God planted a seed of life in us that cannot be killed and if we are blessed enough to have figured this out, there is not a whole lot that we can’t do: move the mountains in front of us, banish fear, love our enemies, forgive somebody who has hurt us, hope for a better tomorrow, get a good night’s sleep, laugh, experience joy, serve the hurting, grow closer to the One who wants nothing more than for you to grow closer to Him.
I believe that living has very little to do with a heart that beats and lungs that breath. The Greeks call the beating heart and breathing lungs bios. I believe that living has to do with relating, serving, caring, sharing, daring, dreaming, and loving. The Greeks have a word for this kind of life: zoe. Bios appears in the New Testament 5 times. Zoe appears in the New Testament 133 times. As God’s creation we are granted bios at our birth. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we are given zoe.
My prayer for all of us is more zoe. I pray we live as we have never lived before. I pray for us lives full of faith, hope, and love.
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