finitely worthier than anything they had known before. And
so they ran, not knowing where the race would take them,
each following their own path through sprawling grasslands
and scorching deserts, through rolling hills and suffocating
jungles.
This latest runner was an ambitious one. From the start, he
ran with all his heart, soul, mind and strength; foot in front
of foot, step by step he ran. Filled with the sheer joy of the
race, he stretched out his strides and reeled in the light, leav-
ing his companions behind in the dust. His family, unable to
keep up with his relentless pace, gradually fell behind. Soon,
those that began the race with him, his church family, also
faded from view. All this escaped his notice; as he drew close
to that light, it whispered tenderly to him, spoke of love, of
grace, of a never-ending peace, and his burning desire for the
fulfillment of these promises drowned out everything around
him. How he yearned for that promised rest. And so, heedless
of the the shifting ground beneath his feet, wilfully ignoring
the heavy clothes on his back, he sprinted recklessly onward.
coming weeks, and the man learned countless lessons from his
countless failures. In the deserts, heat stroke struck him down.
Deep among the marshes, air denser than water stifled him.
Upon the jagged rocks of the cliffs, slicing shards left him near
hamstrung. Eventually, he learned to stay away from these
places, to stick to the forests and the plains, to place his feet
carefully, to be ever alert. But as quickly as the lessons came, so
quickly did his original passion depart, until the man felt hol-
lowed out by these unending trials, until a seed of resentment
was planted in his heart.
And the watchers sighed in resignation, for they had seen it
all before. Without fail, the runners of this race burned fierce-
ly at the start. Test them with narrow roads and many trials,
though, and only a few would persevere. All that remained to
the witnesses was to watch and to hope.
Thus did the man struggle, bitterly, as if alone, sadly unaware
of both his grand, faithful audience and the greater Presence
which ran close beside.
It came as no surprise, then, when he fell. Seeing now Who it was Soon, the man began to question his very par-
He could feel his steps slowing, but he could that accompanied him, ticipation in the race. The niggling concerns
not understand why, when the light was only he cannot understand came slowly at first. Why did he leave behind
meters away. Surging forward, he pushed
his comfortable home? Why did he trade
why he had relied so
past whatever obstacle held him back, and
that perfectly normal lifestyle for this race
heavily
on
himself.
through sheer force of will, he kept his legs
with neither beginning nor end, fraught with
moving forward. Then came the moment when he hung in
danger and without even the pettiest of petty joys: food and
the air, suspended for but a fraction of a second, and in that
sleep? As they continued unanswered, his questions began to
briefest of instants, as his head flew forward and his feet were
intensify, to grow in anger and frustration. Why was the light
anchored in place, the man felt nothing but frustration.
so much faster than him? Why in the world was he never good enough
to catch up? These questions reached into his darkening heart
The tangling thorns finally had him firmly in their clutch, and
and dredged up all of the banked frustration, the anger at his
he slammed to the ground in a painfully abrupt stop. Winded
earlier falls, the unique disgust which arises only from passion
and momentarily disoriented, the man lay sprawled there for
curdled and twisted and spoiled into hatred. Why did he heed
an eternal moment. But driven by that still-fresh desire, he
a single word of those fools who told him of a joyous, reward-
dragged himself to his feet, dusted himself off and continued.
ing race? Why would he trust that tiny whisper of hope in his
This happened time and time again over the course of the
heart, hope that those absurd promises of an eternal life with
32 Spring 2019