Saturday, January 15, 2011

From Spiritual Direction

My Lord God, 
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, 
and the fact that I think that I am following your will 
does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe 
that the desire to please you 
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire
in all that I am doing.

I hope 
that I will never do anything 
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this 
you will lead me by the right road, 
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always 
though I may seem to be lost 
and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, 
for you are ever with me, 
and you will never leave me 
to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude" 
© Abbey of Gethsemani

I received this from my Spiritual Director Fr. Roger today.  He doesn't know I'm a wannabe runner, and this prayer was to help me gain courage and hope in some career decisions I need to make shortly.  But In my mind, it says so much about running that I thought I would share it with you.

I was out on the slush and ice tonight on a 7 mile run (1 mi wu + 5 mi @ 10:48 + 1 mi cd) and I tripped on a big chunk of ice, did a summersault and slid for about 6 yards.  Got up right away and stepped lightly on it, then hobbled for a few yards and then ran the rest of the run at 75% with a light touch on the left foot!  It's slightly swollen, but I've got Dr. Miracle working on it and I'm listening to her 100%!  It was iced and then was taped up with "spider-tape" to immobilize some of the movement.  I run next on Monday.  I think I should be 98.2% by then!

18 comments:

Goose said...

I have a great book by Thomas Merton, he's a very impressive individual. Reading his experiences is humbling to say the very least. Thanks for sharing the positive words, Andrew.

Lee said...

I like it! Hey, watch it out there on those slippery roads.

Anonymous said...

Hope your left foot is back to normal soon- sounds like a scary fall and slide! Yikes!

Adrienne said...

Be Careful! Doesn't sound fun running on ice. Hope you heal quickly.

Chris K said...

Yeah, I almost slipped on ice today too. Godspeed Grasshopper.

Jill@Run for the Hills said...

I really like that prayer; thanks for sharing. If I may share my favorite passage: "but those that hope in the LORD may renew their strength, they will soar with eagle's wings, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint." -Isaiah 40:31
Be careful on the ice and I hope your ankle feels better soon!

Elizabeth said...

Thanks for sharing the prayer. Be careful out in the snow/ice, also may sure the foot is really 100%, better to take 3-5days off than months later on

Tortuga_Runner said...

This was quite lovely to read thank you for sharing.

Jennifer said...

Sweet and powerful words. Thanks for sharing. My ankles are a week spot always seem to be turning them. I do strengthening exercises and it helps. Cheers!

Unknown said...

THanks for sharing that prayer...nice.

Stupid ankle! Hope it gets better soon.

Anonymous said...

Amen! You should read Thomas Merton's book, "New Seeds of Contemplation".

Teamarcia said...

You just upped your badass quotient exponentially. Congrats.

Detroit Runner(Jeff) said...

Sorry to hear about your fall. Heal quickly. Chris - I'm going to send some ice your way! :)

Still Running said...

Ouch! Great reason to stay inside today. Brrr. Hope it gets all the way to 100% by Monday.

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

Be careful out there (stealing a line from Hill Street Blues). Not worth getting hurt over. do some gym work instead.
Cheers!

Anabela (Bela) Neves said...

Oh no...I hope it heals quickly!

Katie said...

I am currently not so spiritual, but I do need some courage in my current life decisions, Thank You for that.
I thought of you today, running in the snow all the time, toughened up and got outside. I was very cold, but it was a nice change from the treadmill and I'm happy I did it!

Karen R said...

Bummer about your ankle!!

Thanks for the encouraging words :)