Running With The Mind of Meditation

Sunday was the first  worship run/walk for a new church, called Journey Church, I am starting in the Coralville/Iowa City/ North Liberty area. It started with a 15 minute worship and communion experience followed by people walking or running together mindfully and meditating on the morning message.

Here is what I offered for a thought:

Allow me to share a reading from the Hebrew Psalms with you. This is from Psalm 111:

Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got— wherever good people gather, and in the congregation. God’s works are so great, worth a lifetime of study—endless enjoyment! Splendor and beauty mark his craft; His generosity never gives out. His miracles are his memorial— This God of Grace, this God of Love. The good life begins in the love of God— Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God. His Hallelujah lasts forever!

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, author of Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind, shares five lessons that I think hold value for us in every moment of this experience called life.  They are:

·      Mindfulness; Being present with where we are gives us energy and vitality.

·      Appreciation that brings joy; It is important to allow ourselves to appreciate what we are doing -- and enjoy it.

·       Challenge; There will always be challenges. Rather than see them as problematic, we can regard them as new frontiers for growth and strength.

·       Purpose; Whether we are meditating or running, having purpose is essential because it gives the mind a way to orient itself.

·       Worthiness; By connecting with our own worthiness, we connect with the worthiness of all humanity.

 He suggests that,

“When we relate to our mind and body and allow them to harmonize, we feel more alive and strong. Even though mind and body are natural, we have to relate with them both on a daily basis. If we train only the body and ignore the mind, the body is getting in shape while the mind is being neglected. We are not relating with mental stress and worry. Conversely, if we focus only on the mind, then the body is neglected, and we feel the ill effects of our stagnant physical demeanor.”

I would suggest that being a spiritual person is a striving to be in balance. When we intentionally relate our mind and body and creation and our craving for a relationship with others and  a relationship with "The Other," we are living as spiritual persons. When we engage in the moment as spiritual persons we gain strength for the journey in front of us.

One of the writings found in the New Testament of the Bible known as the Epistle to the Hebrews shares a long list of people who struggled with balance in their own spiritual journeys and the relevance it has for us in this moment:

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

And, long before Rinpoche or the unknown author of Hebrews offered their insights for a balanced life, years before they shared tools that can fill us with energy, the prophet Isaiah spoke this thought into existence:

Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?

God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.

    He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.

He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.

    And he knows everything, inside and out.

He energizes those who get tired,

    gives fresh strength to dropouts.

For even young people tire and drop out,

    young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.

    They spread their wings and soar like eagles,

They run and don’t get tired,

    they walk and don’t lag behind.

This morning I invite you to discuss with others (or silently meditate) as you stay here or walk or run, the balance that defines your spiritual journey. It might mean that you simply meditate on the word “balance.” It might mean that you share with someone the ways you find balance or your desire to experience balance. 

Know that it is my prayer that every one of you experiences, in this moment, the spiritual balance that God so wants for you.