Post-Election Thoughts

I have run 11 marathons, 19 half marathons, and a bunch of other shorter distances for a total of 58 races since 2003.  Distance running teaches a person many lessons.  In fact, every race I’ve done has taught me a unique lesson.  

Long distance races have taught me about the long view.  A marathon isn’t just about race day and going on a nice 26.2-mile run.  It’s about the entire training schedule over several months.  It’s about bundling up in layers and a hat and gloves when it’s 20 degrees outside because you need to do your training run in January for a race in March.  If you wait for the perfect weather, you’ll always be making excuses.  

As you train, you start with short distances and work your way up.  It is not wise to push yourself too much as you can get injured, but you do need to push yourself to improve and go a farther distance each week.  There are going to be crappy days where the training run is just horrible.  But tomorrow comes and you get out there, put on your running shoes, and try again.  Marathons push you to your limits.  When you are in the wall, everything hurts, and you don’t think clearly.  But you put one foot in front of the other.  And you keep doing that.  Because when you get through the wall, you feel so very alive.  

Running is often thought to be a solitary sport. But the reality is that when you are out there on race day, you strike conversations with people. Yes, you are all racing, but really you are racing against yourself. You are seeing how well you can do. And so is everyone else. So you help each other out. You encourage the other runners because you know they are going through the same thing.

What does all this have to do with post-election thoughts?  I don’t know what to think about the election and the results.  

But I do know what I’m going to do.  

See, we all have a choice.  We can choose to get angry and live in fear.  We can choose to get mean or violent towards people we disagree with.  We can choose to use force or insist on our way.  We can turn inward on ourselves and think of what’s best just for ourselves.  We can adopt the ways of cruelty that we claim to oppose.  And when we do, we become the very thing we dislike, hate, and oppose.  How does that serve us or anyone else?   When we give up what we believe and what we stand for because things get tough, we have to ask the question – did we actually believe in those things in the first place?  Or were they just beliefs of convenience?  

You see running all of these distance races has taught me that now is the time that I had better have integrity and congruence between what I claim to believe and how I live.  If I can’t be congruent between what I claim to believe and how I act, then what is it that I actually believe?   

I claim to believe in Jesus and his way of living, which is about picking up my cross, dying to self, and following Jesus.  That’s not pleasant or pretty when you think about it.  And that whole picking up your cross thing and dying to self is not popular either.  It’s far easier to nail enemies to crosses, rather than pick one up and carry it.  There are plenty of selfish messages in the world that attempt to convince us that “I’ve got mine; you get yours” is a good idea.  There are far too many movements that co-opt Jesus for their own purposes molding him into something he never was, wrapping him in a flag or banner, and making him unrecognizable.   

I claim to buy into Matthew 25 – feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned.  Those are about empathy – caring about other people and their wellbeing enough to attempt to relieve suffering and offer healing. 

I claim to follow Jesus with his more difficult sayings – like love your enemies.  That’s a real struggle for me.  There are people that I just can’t stand – some who are elected officials.  Some who just aren’t interested in conversation or healthy communication.  Love your enemies doesn’t mean give a pass to those who are harming others, or those that are committed to injustice.  The best I can do with this is right now for some of them is to not be in communication with them at all – it’s just too much for me to bear.  Cutting communication prevents me from acting or speaking in an unloving way towards these people.  

This also means taking the long view on so much.  It means seeking justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.  It means confronting injustice, cruelty, violence, and the use of force – not by using those means.  It means not remaining silent to maintain a false peace.  

It means rejecting the ideology and theology of empire which is summed up in three creedal statements – the ends justify the means, only the strong survive, and might makes right.  In place of those creedal beliefs, we embrace Christ’s creed – the ends and means are equally important, life, death, and resurrection, and being in right relationship with God and others.  

It means we are invited to participate in the unfolding of the kingdom of God in our midst, which moves us towards shalom – wholeness, enoughness, completeness.  It means that God is standing at the end of history and stretching out God’s arms to draw us into a loving embrace.  

I don’t know what to think about the election and the results.  But I do know this.  I’m signing up for another half-marathon.  I will do the training.  I will learn the lessons.  I will run the race.  I will run with others.

And I will live the faith I have been given.  I will advocate on homelessness.  I will work to end gun violence.  I will offer healing.  I will promote healthy conversations about religion and politics.  I will proclaim Good News that sets people free from fear.  I will reject cruelty.  I will speak up.   I will write.  I will encourage others. I will love.  I will make peace.  I will follow Jesus.  And I will do this day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.  I will do this until my dying day.  

What are you going to do? I hope at the least you know you are not alone. So please encourage others too. We’re all in this race of life.