August 14, 2019

Back at it.

Sometime back in May, I think, but certainly by June, my calendar clicked over to the “It's time to start getting physically ready for football” season. So every Tuesday and Thursday I would head out to a long, flat stretch of lawn that covers the length of a football field to run.

I call it “running,” but it's really a bit more complicated than that. I do a warm-up set in 30-yard groups that takes me the length of a football field. Then I do some side shuffles, crossovers, and back-pedaling mixed with forward sprints. Add to that some flag throwing so I can accurately judge distances and hit my spots, and you have the makings of a morning “run” that roughly simulates what I do on game day.

Three weeks ago I was out of town on vacation, so no running there. Two weeks ago I was home on vacation but sick, so no running there. Last week I was recovering from being sick, so no running there either. Finally, yesterday, I began training again.

Unlike my first run earlier this year, I'm not sore (thankfully!), because I'm now smart enough to know not to return to the same level as when I left. So I'm easing back into the running regimen, looking to be ready for game day in a few weeks. But I'm back at it, and that's the important thing.

This is kind of like our time in church. We have a weekly regimen of attending Sunday services, as well as an Evening Prayer service and mid-week service. Obviously not everybody attends every service, but we all (hopefully) have a spiritual regimen that we follow. And then comes vacation, or a series of business meetings, or some other event that disrupts that regimen.

These disruptions often take us out of rhythm and away from our regimen. And even if we manage to maintain the regimen, there's something . . . different . . . about it. I went to church with my mom, but it wasn't the same. I could've maintained my training by going to a nearby school. We could've done something while away from our familiar surroundings to maintain our regimens, but sometimes that feels more like a chore than simply saying, “I'll start again when I get back.”

Summer is coming to an end. Vacation times are coming to an end. It's time to get back to whatever spiritual disciplines or regimens we were actively pursuing before we slipped away. There's nothing wrong with getting away, even Jesus and God took time to rest. And just as it's important to keep our physical bodies in shape, it's also important to keep our spiritual bodies in shape.

It's time to get back at it.

Blessings,