Track Meets World

The Bible would be easier to understand if Paul had played football. At least, it would be for me. I understand football. I can easily transfer lessons from the gridiron to the workday. But, sadly, football didn't come along until a lot later and the only sport we have in the New Testament are the type of sports that you would find at a track meet.

Each spring I am privileged to be volunteered to work the track meets at our school. On Thursday of this week, I officiated the discus competition. And on Friday I was one of the timers. As I observed the events and the things that occur around the track meet, I realized that there is a whole "track meets" world that I don't comprehend. Before I get to that, perhaps I should share my own track experience.

I was the kid that the coaches always dreaded. I had the endurance of a sprinter, the speed of a shot-putter, and the throwing and jumping abilities of a concession stand worker. (No offence intended to shot-putters or concession stand workers - just trying to illustrate...) In 7th grade, the coaches placed me in the distance events at the beginning of the year. In an effort to be able to finish the meets on the day they began, I was quickly moved to the sprints. I ran the 100 and the 200 the rest of the season. Until...the district meet. For the district meet I was introduced to the shot put. Then, I jogged the 100 and 200. I was done. So, I went to the concession stand and bought a Frito pie and a Dr. Pepper and some peanut M&M's. I had just finished them when someone ran over to tell me that the coach was looking for me. I asked why and was told that I was supposed to run the mile. I asked when and was told that they were lining up on the starting line right then. My attitude toward track soured that day (as did my stomach).

So when I observed the happenings at the track meet this week, I realized I was watching a world that I didn't understand. Athletes preparing to run events because they enjoyed the competition - not because they had to. It first hit me when I watched a girl preparing to run the 3200 (that's eight laps) by jogging a couple of warm up laps. ??? Over the course of the events, I saw joy and pain, elation and agony. The greatest display of emotion came at the end of the mile as the athlete who came in third raised his hands over his head screaming "Yes!" He then fell to the ground in elation...he had run well, finished the race... and simultaneously entered the week known as Spring Break.

Looking back, I ran track wrong. I did finally figure track out - for the last race I ever ran. In that race I ran to stay at the front, not merely on the track. I focused on finishing well, not the pain of running. I ran the best race I ever ran that day. I didn't finish first or second...or even fifth. I finished sixth in my heat - the slow heat. But I had run well, and the coach was quick to tell me how proud he was of the race I had run. And I was proud that I had finally figured out how to run.

Life as I know it is best when we stop running aimlessly and start running to win. I wasted a lot of time and energy focusing on not running when I should have been focused on running my best. Looking back over my life since that last race, I sometimes live life that way, too. Focusing on negatives, thinking about pain, having a bad attitude...instead of focusing on the goal. Which brings me back to Paul and the lack of football in the New Testament... "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." I Corinthians 9:24-27