Grace at the Race

This morning, one of the markers in my Bible lesson came from Ephesians 4:7. It reads, "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Another marker came from a line in Science and Health that reads, "Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love."

As I was sitting in my car in a dimly-lit parking deck in downtown Richmond waiting for the Monument Avenue 10k to begin, dozing a little in the driver's seat, the two lines I recalled from my early morning reading merged into one idea in my idea: "Each successive stage of experience [life, age] reveals new evidence of God's grace."

With this idea in the back of my mind, as well as ideas about an unlimited body, I began my race--my first Monument as a thirty-year-old.

I had three main goals. The first was to finish in less than an hour. (This is a staple goal for 10ks.) The second was to enjoy my run. (This is an easy goal to achieve.) The third was to remember that my purpose was to express and glorify God, not myself. (This is the hardest goal to achieve.)

As I came upon the first mile marker, I was not surprised to see that I was running at a pretty good clip. I usually start off too fast. It's a bad habit.

When I came to the second mile marker, I was still on target to finish far faster than anticipated--but it was still early in the race.

Then I reached the half-way point--and found I was still running quite fast, at least for me. Now I was surprised. How could I be running so fast with seemingly so little effort? Especially now that I'm thirty? Wasn't I sure to be slower now that I wasn't in my twenties anymore? I was just hoping for a finishing time of 57:00 or 58:00. At miles four and five, I was still running faster than 9-minute miles.

As I pondered this apparent anomaly, it occurred to me that I was able to run so fast because I was buoyed up by grace. I'm not older--I've just experienced more grace. If time is measured in the good we experience instead of in minutes and hours and days and years, then each day, I--we all--grow in grace.

So for the rest of race, I tried to open my eyes to even more grace. Here is what I saw and heard:

•  Just after the halfway point, I passed two women discussing their goal of holding to a ten-minute pace. One said, "You might have to hold my hand, but I'll hold the pace." The other agreed. Then a third woman, who had apparently also been listening in, said, "Who's running that needs support?" She was willing to support these complete strangers in any way she could.

• Around mile five, a father was encouraging his eight-year-old daughter. "I am so proud of you," he was saying. "Look what you did! And you decided to do this! You made the decision and you stuck with it. There were days you didn't want to go, but you did, anyway. You did all the training."

•  As I passed by a man in a wheelchair, I heard multiple people cheer him on.

•  At the end of the race, I was able to demonstrate grace myself. A woman who had finished ahead of me had somehow missed the water being handed out as we crossed the finish line. She was thirsty, and was practically begging a race official or volunteer to allow her to return to the finish line for water. The official told her she could not, and did not know where else she might be able to get water. I still had my unopened bottle in my hand, and knew I had water from home just a few blocks away in my car. "Would you like my water?" I asked, "I have my own in my car." The woman smiled a very genuine smile and gratefully accepted my offer.

• As I walked back to my car, the music of the live bands fading away behind me, I watched two homeless people approach a fellow runner. He didn't have much to offer them, but he did give them the Gatorade (or was it Powerade?) he had received at the race finish. I caught up to him just after he had given away his drink. "That was nice of you," I told him. He admitted to feeling bad that he hadn't thought to also offer the people his banana.

I finished the race this morning faster than I ever finished it throughout my twenties, knocking minutes off my time. I certainly did not do it by myself. There is no explanation other than the grace and love that were all around me, supporting me, motivating me, and lifting me up. This grace is accessible to all of us, all the time, in every situation. We just have to avail ourselves of it.