Jog On 1

Traditionally, I have despised the jogger. Running up and down they go with no place in mind, at a speed little better than a brisk walk. Well I guess I have joined the Despised. If swimming is not for me, then running might be. First, I had to overcome various arguments which my mind produced to dissuade me from beginning this torture. Isn't it the early morning jogger, for instance, who always finds the dead bodies? Does not scripture counsel against 'the wicked man', who 'runs though no one pursues'? (Prov 28:1). How useful we find scripture to justify this or that. 

I bought a pair of second-hand running shoes on eBay and set off to Salterforth on Monday evening, and then again yesterday morning at 5. ‘Running’ is a rather flattering term. 60% of the time I walked, especially on the return leg when my heart was pounding against my chest like an incarcerated lunatic battering on his cell’s door, and my legs became as lead, heavy and cumbersome, willing me to pick them up or drag them along.

There were pros and cons to running at such an early hour. Fewer people to watch my wobbling torso was a reassuring statistic, though the duller light meant that the prospect of slipping on excrement or one of those giant black slugs was much enhanced. Yet the clearest benefit was the birds’ dawn chorus. Their lovely song provided a charming contrast with my own wheezes and grunts; it is as though they were willing me on. Of course, I was of no interest to them in the slightest, but from their song did I certainly benefit.

The Psalms are often characterised by the writers’ grief and angst, a scriptural concession to the fallen human existence we must needs endure. Yet they are also characterised by music. Not only are the psalms themselves songs, but their lyrics invite us to sing:

Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people. Psalm 9:11

The birds were singing to God in their own way and it gladdened me when my slow progress would have otherwise stolen my joy. So let us sing unto the Lord, but also to each other:

…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 (NKJV)

Image by Hans from Pixabay