No Sweat

Monday 8/11/2014 3:59 AM

I have been jogging for the past thirty-six years.  I say jogging because I do not run fast and I have never been highly motivated to win races or compete in any way.  A number of years ago, when I still taught at Valley Christian High School, the cross country coach asked me to be an assistant coach.  She had some ribbons printed up that said, “No pain, no gain,” a popular phrase at the time.  The idea was that if you wanted to improve in your running you had to push yourself past what you thought you could do.  I joked with her that I wasn’t sure if I was the best fit for her philosophy since my mantra was, “Pain, no brain,” if you are hurting then it is time to slow down and catch your breath.  In my world of running those who work through the pain should have their head examined.

Each day we would begin practice with a three quarter mile warm up jog and we would do a number of stretching exercises before the actual workout.  I always ran with the team and at the end of the warm up run my shirt was always wet with sweat.  The team always commented on the fact that I sweat so much and I would joke with them that it was because I had grown up in Phoenix and had absorbed so much heat as a child that I was still trying to radiate it away.  Fittingly, at the year-end awards banquet I received an award for the sweatiest runner.

Today I read a prayer by William Barclay that brought back those memories.  It included these words, “Grant, O God, that we may never forget that sweat is the price of all things.”  When asked by someone to do a task that is considered simple we say, “Sure, no sweat,” implying that it will take minimal effort and that it will be no problem to do it.

Our world rewards efficiency.  People are always looking to find a way to do something more quickly and with less energy.  We have remote controls for nearly everything so I can sit in my chair while changing channels on the television, setting the thermostat in my house, locking and unlocking my car and various other tasks.  This ease of life creeps into other areas, too, so businesses look for ways to increase production and cut costs while employees look for ways to work less and get paid more.  Students want to get high grades on their transcripts but they don’t want to do the homework.  Parents want to have respectful children but do not take the time necessary to nurture healthy relationships with them.  People want to lose weight but do not want to discipline themselves to curb portion sizes and engage in some form of exercise.

This morning God reminded me that I have a similar attitude with regard to my relationship with him.  I want to invest minimal effort and have the maximum benefit.  I want the kind of intimacy with God that allows me to hear his voice, which gives me direction, but I do not slow myself down enough to listen.  I should not be surprised if God remains silent when I am not willing to put in the time and the effort to hear.  Somehow I need to have a different response to God’s call to intimacy than, “Sure, no sweat.”