Repost from the spring: I went on a run yesterday with no agenda, no time frame and no plan. 8 miles later I came back. I honestly noticed something at each mile. Something about Someone bigger than us. Someone with a bigger perspective. Someone. 8 Miles & 8 Thoughts About the Existence of God:

1. We are made to grow and be pushed. I thought about this from the moment I left my house. While running isn’t for everyone, all of us have something inside that wants to be better, learn, create, discover. We aren’t made to stay the same, to stand still. Something inside cries out, “There is more to life.”

2. We are made for relationship. There was a park at mile 2. You can see it in the picture. I watched families play, kids from all backgrounds connect, moms and dads talking. Here I thought about how we are we are made for others. While we are all extremely unique individuals, we are all made for interaction with one another. We are made for relationship.

3. We all have our demons. At mile 3, I turned left and saw an older lady on a bike talking to herself. Yelling would be a better word. She scared the heck out of me! While we all don’t yell at cars when they pass, we do all have our shortcomings and quirky quirks. Some are visible like the yelling, bike riding lady. Others are more subtle and easier to hide from the world: hatred, jealousy, unforgiveness, addiction. We all have our demons. None of us are perfect.

4. We all have a conscience. We all have an ability to know right from wrong. Mile 4 took me to the Vitamin Shop, where I bought energy gel. After I paid, I went to the back hallway and put one pack in the pocket of my running shorts. A lady saw me pocketing the thing and gave me a funny look, like “Hey, why are you pocketing that thing.” I was reminded that all of us have some sense of right and wrong. We were created with a moral compass.

5. We are made to enjoy things. This isn’t our primary purpose in life, but sort of an added bonus. At mile 5, I saw a bunch of chickens. You know, I’m not sure what these showed me about the existence of God, but they were fun to watch! I thought about wanting to take one and fry it up (sorry veggie eaters)! I did think about how funny it is that we were created to enjoy food.

6. We all make choices, not all of them work out. Mile 6 took me by a vacant church with a for sale sign out front. The church obviously had missed it somewhere. Gigantic building. Empty. What does this show us about the existence of God? About the church? About the state of humanity? Not sure…but I passed at least 10 churches during my run.

7. We all care about others in some small way. Mile 7 found me helping chase a dog. There were 6 people from the pharmacy chasing this thing! I thought about how something inside of us wants to help others. Sometimes, something inside of others wants to help us. Something inside this dog made it want to run! Come back tomorrow for the video of me chasing this dog!

8. We have all been handed our lot in life. Mile 8 took me through a rough, low-income neighborhood close to our home. I saw two pretty sad looking teens walking. It made me think about how those teens didn’t get to pick the family they grew up in. Even if you don’t believe in God, you have to wonder why you were placed where you are in life, while so much of the world lives on next to nothing. What will you do with your life? What will you do to help the millions around the world that aren’t so fortunate with the resources and opportunities that you’ve been given?

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