Fast-Walking

I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11 NIV)

We spend a lot of time these days on living longer.  There is a lot of information out there on how to do so.  Our doctors advise us on how we may.  And we spend a lot of time at it.  We eat better food, often even growing our own so we know it is healthy.  We get all kinds of preventive tests searching for cancer cells before they find us.  We join gyms, buy workout videos and walk, walk, walk.

I read about a woman (Laura) who heard that people who walk faster live longer.  So she decided she would be one of those fast walkers.  But she had a two-year-old.  Two-year-olds like to walk fast and even run a lot, but they stop very frequently... to check out the cool bug, or pick a dandelion, or do an emergency summersault in the grass.  Laura's child grew so she thought she could finally be a fast walker, but breast cancer stopped her.  Between the chemo and the emotional effects she just couldn't walk very fast, and then when the treatments were over and she had been cancer-free for a while, she just didn't WANT to walk very fast.  It was now she who wanted to watch the bugs and smell the flowers and be a little silly.  But even that new joy of living wears off after a while and Laura once again sought to lengthen her life by walking fast.  But in the meantime, she had taken in a teenager with medical issues that didn't allow him to keep up with her fast pace.  At first she felt frustrated, but slowed down to walk with him and talk with him and learn about him and his life.

We may never know if Laura's lack of "fast-walking" had any effect on the length of her life, but we do know that she got to really experience life.  Don't get me wrong, we need to take care of ourselves and we should give good ear to the advice of our doctors.  But we have all either known or heard about people who spend all their days focused so heavily on good health that they had no time to enjoy life only to succumb to a terrible accident or heinous disease.

The thing is, we need to do the best we can with our health without limiting our journey.  If we walk too fast, we will miss the best reasons for living.  What good is a long life if we don't live it?  Don't outrun the people who want you to walk a little more slowly next to them, for they are the reason you want to live.  Fast-walking may lead to a longer life, but make sure it also is a full life... full of the people you love and the use of your talents and gifts.

Lord,
Guide us in the best ways to keep healthy and strong as we take the fullest joy in the gift of life and serve you and one another in the journey.  Lord, we lift to you this morning the people of Moore, OK.  We pray that those who have not yet been rescued will be found safe.  We pray for healing and comfort for all those who lost loved ones and homes.  Guide us in any way we can help.  Amen.

Joys:  Got to babysit Emma for a little while.  We had fun!; baked a homemade cheesecake for Daniel's birthday tomorrow; Kevin and Chelsea's wedding only a few days ahead