Change of Pace

After a few days of running in beautiful, sunny, warm Florida (did I say that it was beautiful?) this morning's run took me up and down the 18 floors of the emergency staircase of the Jolly Hotel in NYC multiple times. Not exactly a sunny run by the beach, but very challenging. Running stairs is different in at least two significant respects. First, you must pay attention all of the time because falling would be more painful than it ordinarily would be. Second, at least half of the time--going up--you cannot coast. Despite being a more intense workout, it was somewhat refreshing just because it was different. Now I am pretty sure that if I were to run the stairs for several days in a row it would get old, but it will only be a couple of days at most.

Every now and then I find that I need to break up the routine of my spiritual experience in order to inject some freshness and to keep from getting stale. I have not yet figured out if that is just part of the general human condition, or whether it is my own particular flavor of discontent. Sometime this winter I hope to take a daylong retreat at Pacem in Terris, a local retreat center. They have facilities for overnight or multi-day retreats, but I will plan to start with one full day. I feel like I could really use the time to focus and pray and worship in a new and fresh setting.

This morning's run is unlike any part of the upcoming Fargo marathon, but the effort of this morning will move me closer to the goal of being prepared to finish well in Fargo. A retreat is just that--something different that will move me further along the journey toward spiritual maturity and growth. It is not the journey itself, but a tool to make progress on the journey. For that, even if for no other reason, such indirect adventures are worthwhile.

Pressing on.