Running on Empty

Hebrews 12:1-13

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
• keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith
• strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees

Applying the Word to My Life:
A while back, a friend of mine was running a marathon and hit the point where he was simply running out of gas. He looked at the miles still ahead of him, did the math on how fast he would have to run to finish before they closed the course, and realized the pace he needed was much faster than the pace he was actually running.

So he decided he was done.

He figured he would make it to the next runner's station, stop there, and accept that this was as far as he was going to get. He slowed down, let the people he had been running with disappear up the road, and started praying his Rosary as he walked toward the station.

By then he thought he was basically alone.

Then, just before he reached the place where he planned to quit, another runner came up behind him. It was someone he had run with earlier in the race. The guy could have kept going. Instead, he pulled alongside my friend, got him moving again, and helped bring him back into the race.

My friend finished before they closed the course.

I think about that story when I read today's passage because Hebrews has just spent an entire chapter telling us about people who ran before us. Abraham, Moses, the prophets, the martyrs, and generations of people who trusted God in circumstances they couldn't control. Then chapter 12 begins: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us.”

A witness isn't merely someone watching from the stands. A witness is someone whose life tells us that the race can be run.

That's what the saints do for us. Sometimes they encourage us from very close by. Sometimes they come to us through a prayer we've prayed hundreds of times, like Mary through the Rosary. Sometimes we encounter them through stories written centuries ago. Their lives say, in different ways, “I've been tired too. I've been afraid. I've wanted to stop. Keep going.”

The cloud of witnesses doesn't surround us so we can admire them. It surrounds us so we'll keep running.

The man who came alongside my friend that day wasn't a canonized saint. He was just another runner. But in that moment he did something very saint-like. He saw someone falling out of the race and refused to let him quit alone.

Maybe that's part of why the Church keeps the saints so close. We need examples. We need encouragement. We need people who remind us that holiness is possible because other human beings have already lived it.

Still, Hebrews doesn't tell us to fix our eyes on the witnesses. It tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus. The saints are the people along the course who help us keep moving toward Him.

There will be moments when we're tired, discouraged, or convinced we can't keep the pace. When that happens, we don't have to pretend we're strong. We can listen to the witnesses, accept the help God sends, and take the next step.

And sometimes we may be the person coming up behind someone else.

My Response for Today:
Today I'll encourage one person who looks like they may be struggling to keep running.