An inspiring message from an old professor of mine... Old as in previous, not as in elderly. :) He is an incredibly humble and inspiring man who loves people in a way that I can only hope to one day. He is a beautiful picture of how Christ teaches us to love people who are hurting and desperate. Check out his story:
I finished the Chicago Marathon! Ha! 26.2 miles. Astonishing. No one is more surprised than I that such a thing was possible.
OK, so its not the Nobel Peace Prize. If someone were to say “That’s nice, but come on. Its not that big a deal. 45,000 other people ran it too, right? A lot of people run marathons.” My response would be, “You don’t understand. Yes, a lot of other people ran it… but we are talking about me. We are talking about something becoming a reality for me. “
It is a humbling experience. I didn’t start at the front of the pack with the elite, world - class runners. No one chanted my name. I was way behind from the very beginning. The crowd was so big I didn’t even get across the starting line for 21 minutes . No motorcycles with camera guys riding backwards filmed me with continuous TV commentary. No one interviewed me before or after the race. If you want to be kind to me, remember that in the same way you don’t ask ladies their age, you don’t ask 55 year old men what their time was for a marathon. Its not good manners.
I’ll tell you though. 5 hrs, 30 min. Its not world class. Probably 80% of the field finished in front of me. But I finished.
I did it as a reminder to myself that people stuck poverty and life dominating issues feel as powerless to do anything about their circumstances as the average middle class person feels incapable of running a marathon. The typical middle class person knows other people run marathons. They just can’t imagine that they could do it. They imagine all of the hurdles and good reasons why it would not be possible for them to succeed. They fail before they even get to the starting line.
What they would need to succeed is what I had that enabled me to be a finisher in Chicago: people who believed in me, who worked with me and encouraged me over the long haul, who trained me how to run, who were personal role models, who weren’t judgmental when I was less than perfect but nevertheless held me accountable, who prayed for me. No one could do it for me, but these are the kinds of things that help people succeed, either in life or a marathon.
Its the same kind of support broken people need who are coming out of addictions, prostitution, and other life dominating sins. It’s the kind of support Changing Lives Now gives to folks who are wanting to come off of the street. They are helping losers in life to be winners. You may not see them on TV either, but God takes notice.
Which is the other reason I ran: You understand, of course, that it was not about the race. Not about me. And it certainly wasn’t about my finishing time.
Sunday’s marathon was about helping to raise the visibility of CLN and connecting them with people who believe in what they do so they can be a financial part of a ministry in the trenches that is giving people a hand up… not a hand out.
So – want to give a hand up? www.Changinglivesnow.org.
You can give online. Its tax deductible. They and I will be profoundly grateful.
