Undertaking a 26.2-mile marathon is an excellent metaphor for life and all the things in life that can threaten to derail us. We may become sidelined by obstacles (an injury that delays our training) or stopped dead in our tracks (by mile 21, something is going to hurt, especially your first time).
But with the proper tools, acquired through conscientious training–worship, study, prayer and communal life–you can keep on keeping on until you cross that finish line. You don’t have to be perfect to get started. You have what you need right now: the Holy Spirit, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. With this understanding we can all say, “See you at the finish!”
This is adapted from “Challenging yourself in midlife,” a devotion found in Living from the Heart of God: A Journal for Life’s Stages, published by Women of the ELCA in 2007. Today we observe Labor Day and remember Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig, bishop, renewer of the church, who died in 1872.
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