Run with a Friend

Actually it was fathers and sons run. My buddy Jeff and his son; I and my son and his friend, went to the reservoir park. Our sons are getting ready for the cross country season and their team will start training officially in two weeks. So it was a good time for Jeff and I to run along.

I had talked to Jeff before about doing prayer runs so I thought that this would be a good time for him to try it out. Now come to think of it, we did some rosary runs before, but this would be the first time where I'd encourage him to try to do a meditative run. It would be an opportunity for me to see if I can inspire somebody to try it out.

I told him that we would do a Mother Teresa Run. He seemed amused by it, but of course, he said he'd try it. Then I also mentioned to him that this is just one way to keep us attuned to God's presence during the run. Before we took off, I told him to offer this run to God and take the chance to unburden himself of any worries or concerns that he carried with him now.

So we ran together quietly. Our children behind us following our pace not too far behind. It was rather unusual because we were quiet the whole time. I was a little concerned because I certainly didn't want him to get turned off by an attempt to pray during what seems like a social run with 5 of us altogether. So I prayed for Jeff as I ran.

When we got to the end, I waited for him to say something. The first thing he said was that he felt good. He tried most of what I told him, but he said that he had a lot of trouble with the random thoughts and the physical fatigue. He said when he started getting tired midway to the run, he lost focus. It redirected his attention to getting by the fatigue. However, he said that using the mantras and thinking of happy thoughts helped him to pray. Overall he felt really good.

Now that was a happy news for me. Running with a friend can be prayerful, too. Jesus said, "When two or three people are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst."