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Training: for a triathlon and for God
By Sister Julie | July 16, 2007
As I get closer and closer to my first triathlon, I’m trying to get in as much training as possible without wiping myself out or neglecting my nunly responsibilities. I am also increasingly reflecting on the discipline of training and how much it has in common with the spiritual life.
More and more I hear in Scripture echoes of journey, endurance, hanging in, pushing oneself, practice so as to develop good habits, digging deep. The passage that immediately comes to mind is Saint Paul writing to the community at Corinth:
All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it. Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.
Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
Saint Paul uses an image that people were familiar with—training oneself (body, mind and spirit) for an athletic event—in order to talk about how we train ourselves (body, mind, and spirit) for the Christian life. At one level, the “event” is life itself, the challenges that come along, the calls for endurance and for hanging in there even when we feel exhausted or beat. Yet the “event” is also God himself. God is the one who is our ultimate “prize”, our goal, the One around whom all things are oriented. So in a sense we are always in training to be on the lookout for God in all things. We train our senses to discover God in the midst of the struggle, the joy, and even the mundane. We train and develop skills to be open to God, to talk about God, to spread God’s word, to be God’s light.
When I’m not overly focused on drowning or heat stroke, I think about these things and pray on them. Athletic training has given me a deeper appreciation of the ascetic life and of the value of true discipline (note the connection between discipline and disciple/discipleship).
Have you had a similar experience? in terms of athleticism, asceticism, or any other -ism that involves training and discipline? What does your experience say to you of God and/or of the spiritual life?
Topics: out and about, prayer, theology |
7. First Vows
July 16th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Within this little ‘epistle’ is a very dark shadow. It needs to be recognized that by only allowing those athletically endowed physiologically and those willing to push their bodies beyond its ‘voice of pain’ and ’sustainable living’ into positions of visible leadership, the ‘Church’ has then preached an erroneous slant to “I can do all things…etc.” to many a ‘lamb’ in its fold resulting in the injury, pain, and even ultimate destruction of life.
The walk with God is not a triathelon, nor a fight, battle, or a struggle that requires a harsh discipline to push beyond the bounds of sustainable, healthy, and peaceful living. I would suggest strongly that you read carefully and consider all that is in http://www.sharingthebest.blogspot.com.
You will find that we do not ‘hang in there’ when we feel exhausted or beat. That is a sign to withdraw, to take time away, to reflect, to heal, to ‘let God take over’. It works. Life in the Spirit, life in God is NOT a life of ascetic harshness.
The triathlete is not an example for the lambs to follow - unless they are eager to be slaughtered. Wake up!
July 16th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Interesting topic - I know when I go out to walk or run, there are times I try to be open to listening or talking to God. Other times I try to remind myself that the exercise is a way to keep and maintain the body God has given me.
Then when I am really hot or at the end of my rope, I think, God, why in the world did I think THIS was a good idea? Help me hang in there!
I am looking forward to hearing how you do when you do your first triathlon. I am far from doing one, but I figure one day I will!
July 16th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Thank you, dove3, for your reflections. Asceticism is a spiritual tradition that can be greatly misunderstood and also taken to extremes. Yes, there are the tales of extraordinary harshness associated with asceticism, but asceticism is deeply Christian. It is a participation in Christ’s own asceticism, that is, the Cross.
Scripture as well as the Christian tradition uses many images to speak of the spiritual journey including battle and struggle. But you are right that it also speaks of the spiritual journey as a way of peace.
Asceticism is simply one aspect of spirituality. The degree to which it is a part of one’s life varies according to each person.
As for lambs following the example of triathletes, I don’t think they’d ever make it with the biking part. Best to stick with Jesus as the example of how to live.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Thank you, dove3, for your comments. All too often the person who is rewarded publicly is the woman with cancer who worked her health into the grindstone, not the woman who stayed home and took care of herself.
However, I don’t think that Sister Julie is driving her health into the ground or doing anything that many, many other people do on a regular basis. Speaking physically, she seems like she is doing the right things and certainly has directed us to sites which seem to have a balanced philosophy about health and fitness.
Speaking on a Spiritual sense, it is just as hard (and harder at times) as physical training. Absolute Trust in the Divine is not arrived at easily. Like Sister Julie’s quote… this is not poetry. My mother told me that the Divine would not give one more than one could bear and the Divine has a deeper knowledge about the Possible. To me, that always meant that if it ever seemed like I was given more than I could bear and I didn’t think I could deal with it, then I had to be wrong. I had to be able to bear it because the Divine thought so and I knew that I wasn’t as smart as All That. This has made me a happy and comforted person. If one can look at the 157th straight bowl of Ramen and find a way to be grateful (at least mostly), other things later seem to have a different perspective. When one’s rent came from random people for just long enough to get a ‘real’ paycheck, one realizes that things will be fine… it will always be fine, because It always Is.
Rabbi Abraham Issac Kook (said: Cook) said (something like) every movement you make toward the Positive was a step toward God. Eating the right foods was a step, taking care of your health was a step, making yourself stronger was a step… so in a way, Sister Julie, you are racing toward God!
Blessings!
July 16th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Hello Sister,
I agree with you that there is a great benefit to be gained from any activity that requires discipline. I believe that the ultimate benefit to be gained is that we can achieve most goals in life if we are disciplined enough to work hard at them. You may train for your triathalon for a year and finish last. But you finish. You aren’t the best in the field but you have proven that you can do it.
It is an example of course, but I think that it is a good one.
My experience is that any reward attained that has required sacrifice or descipline to achieve is much sweeter than that which comes easily, or by chance.
Your vocation is the same. You have required years of discipline to live the life you do, to commit yourself to Christ and your Sisters. I understand the similarities completely.
July 16th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Interesting discussion… It reminds me of my solo bicycle trip from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC last summer. I have to admit, it wasn’t so much the physical aspect (I split the 350 miles over 10 days) as the mental aspect (wanting to give in to laziness) that was a challenge to me. I had thought about participating in a “vision quest” as part of my sabbatical year, but couldn’t manage it. I now wonder if the discipline of sitting in that saddle 5-6 hours each day, yet taking some time to stop and enjoy the spectacular landscapes along the way, wasn’t in some way akin to what happens on a vision quest.
One thing for sure, I really felt I had accomplished something when I rolled into Georgetown that morning. And I was sure ready for a shower after camping out for 10 days.
Have fun with the triathalon…I don’t really have any desire for it, as I don’t like running, and I never learned the proper mechanics for swimming, so I experience that as a lot of flailing around with scant forward progress.
July 17th, 2007 at 6:01 am
Good point, RedheadedCyclone … Saint Paul writes about exactly that thing later in the letter to the Corinthians … “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Your comment, Martha, is right on … for me the triathlon is not to “win” or to “compete” but simply to train and to cross the finish line. Also, the triathlon I’m doing is to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation (an organization dedicated to saving lives and ending breast cancer by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all and energizing science to find the cures). So my little athletic endeavor is not just about me but about a larger goal of supporting people touched by breast cancer and standing (and swimming, biking, and running) with them.
That mut have been quite a journey, Sandy. Wow!
July 17th, 2007 at 6:04 am
And Cathy, I most certainly will let you know how it goes. It’s definitely a commitment and work, but at least for me, it’s all about having heart.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:13 am
I have been a distance runner (officially) for about three years and in that time I have come to understand many, many similarities between endurance athletics and the spiritual life. In a marathon, the first and last miles are certainly the most difficult. I often start out a bit stiff and find it difficult to make my way through the crowd into my own space and stride. By the end, your body is telling you to stop but it is then that your will must take over — and usually when your prayers become a bit more frequent. However, I have found it is not these prayers that are the important ones; rather, it is the prayer that occurs along the journey. Between mile 2 and 25, or whatever distance a person is running, is an opportunity to enjoy the journey. Breathing is the part of running I enjoy most. When things are whizzing by, I focus on the breath that comes from within. No matter how crazy the world around me may seem (if you run in a large city, you understand what I mean), my training allows me to still myself and enjoy the moment. At that point, running becomes a prayer and my training out there becomes my training for every other part of life.
In addition to being a runner, I am also a seminarian soon to be ordained. Over the years, by far the most common question is “when are you going to be a priest?” Of course, it is an answer I know, but it is not something I choose to dwell on. If I enter a race or set out on a run with only the end in mind, it would be a miserable experience. Running is about the process, not the destination. The same is true in our relationship with God. So when you see me smiling as I cross a finish line, it is not because I am finished (well, maybe it is that too), but because of what I have just experienced along the journey. The toughest part is getting started — running, like praying, makes little sense when you do it for short moments. The challenge is for all of us to get out there and settle in for the long haul — I promise it gets easier once you get going.
July 18th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I don’t have anything substantive to add to the discussion, but I did want to say thank you to everyone who shared on this one. What a great meal of food for thought! Not that I’m anywhere near taking up running or training for a triathlon. It was the spiritual parallels and many voices that made me want to pop in with a simple (if wordy) “thanks!”
July 18th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
I have been chewing on this thread and enjoying all the comments. It has made me reflect on the parallels to the spiritual journey…while I am not one to push myself physically very often, I can relate to the times in my life when spiritually I have felt pushed and stretched to my outer limits…and I can see that if I only glance over my shoulder, God is there coaching me every step of the way…how many times have I prayed, please, just let me get through this next step and just when I thought I could not take another moment, along came the breakthrough. I firmly believe that body/mind/spirit are intertwined and Sister Julie, I think it is outstanding that you are taking on this physical challenge as it will also strengthen spirit and mind. Whatever we do on one of these levels has a positive effect on the others.
On that note, you GO girl!!