Lent day 1 - the companionship of the long distance runner

How can it be Lent already??  It's only just stopped being Christmas!  :)

Ive started to write this three times and have deleted it all.  Praying about how to kick off this year's offering I get the feeling I should tell you about Jake.   Which is funny because Ive never met Jake. :)

I was at school with a guy called Simon.  We were sixth form chums together and I seem to remember we got along rather well and had a laugh.  We didn't know each other outside school and of course as soon as school finished we went our separate ways and lost touch until the miracle of facebook caused our virtual paths to cross again some twenty five years later.   You know the sort of thing - you say hi, you reminisce for ten minutes about school and check out each others friends list to remind yourself of other people you had forgotten about and then you read each others posts sporadically and that's pretty much that.

On reading Simon's timeline I was pretty impressed to discover he is a somewhat serious runner.  Marathons and all that.   And then was even more impressed to discover that he had become a guide runner for a young woman who is blind but who wanted to run long distance.   Simon runs with her as her eyes.   He goes at her pace and being her guide involves him having to practice with her for the races she wants to enter.   He doesnt talk too much about it on his facebook timeline but it is clear that he is 100% committed to running alongside.   When you stop to think about it that is quite something isnt it?  Not just running a marathon, but running it with someone else, for someone else, in step with someone who is utterly dependent on you being able to steer them right. ( And until recently when Simon campaigned to change the rules, guide runners didn't even get a medal when they completed some marathons !! )  There is clearly a good friendship and a huge amount of trust which has built up over time between Simon and his blind friend Agata.  Because Simon is willing to do this, someone who loves to run but cant see well enough to be able to run, can now enjoy the freedom of the wind in her hair and the sweat on her brow just like anyone else.

A couple of months ago Simon's timeline changed.  His teenage son had been in a catastrophic car accident and was in a medically induced coma on life support.  'Please pray.'   I had no idea ( I still dont really) what Simon believes, but I heard the cry of a father for his son.  So I prayed.  We prayed as a family.  We prayed for Jake who had bleeds on his brain, a punctured lung and unknown other injuries.  A young man we didnt know and had never met.  We prayed for miracles. And lots of other people did too.  Simon's timeline filled up with messages of love and support, of prayers and good wishes, of offers of practical help and kind words.  Whatever you might think about social media, used well, in times of crisis, it most certainly brings the whole world to your doorstep.  The man who runs alongside those who cannot see now needed someone to run alongside him in a time of darkness and waiting, and help him put one foot in front of another.

Jake was in a coma for a week before the doctors decided to wake him up.  For several days there was not much sign of life and then slowly and surely Jake started to respond, them move, open his eyes, make efforts to speak.....  miracles every day beautifully recorded on Facebook for the world to see.   A couple of weeks ago Jake was moved out of intensive care and then was doing so well that he was sent to a respite unit where he has continued to make great progress.  He is now walking well and unaided, speaking clearly and showing huge courage and determination to work with the physios and therapists to get back all of the function which was damaged in the accident.  Through it all Simon and his wife Nicola seem to have kept an amazing positivity and sense of humour.  I cant start to imagine how I would cope if one of my boys had to go through such trauma and change and challenge.

So.... what is the lesson I am starting to see in this story?

Well, it strikes me that the character which we develop and work on throughout our lives is the character we have to fall back on when things get tough.  Simon is a man who has put in effort over years to be fit and healthy.  Not only that but he has opted to be generous with the results of that effort - he could have just gone running like so many others go running.  Or to enter marathons and win medals and beat personal best times like so many others do.    But he chose instead to give it away.  And Im pretty sure that in the giving it away he has gained so much more than personal bests and medals.   His kindness, commitment, perseverance and generosity over years have made him into the sort of person who, when faced with a catastrophic crisis, can a) immediately ask for help  b) show exactly the same dedication and perseverance and care in the crisis  c) be able to maintain perspective and a sense of humour d) trust that if the blind can run marathons then probably nothing is as impossible as it may at first appear.

Nobody knows quite what lasting long term effects the accident will have on Jake.  It might take up to a year before doctors can judge any long term damage to his cognitive function.  But with his Dad running alongside him Im pretty sure Jake will run his race well and be a winner.

Simon, if you are reading this  I salute you.  You are a humbling example of a godly character.  If Jesus was a runner Im pretty sure He would be your guide runner and mine.

Oh,   hang on a sec



He is.