Four bikes were outside when I arrived for our Saturday morning run.
“No one told me that they were riding this morning?” I thought as I walked inside.
I noted the four who wore cycling gear as they greeted me, though several others were dressed to run.
“Hey, no one told me about a ride this morning.” I said, a bit miffed at being left out of the loop. As I said this, I felt this surge of anger bubble up inside me, not sure where it was coming from. My voice and actions became more dramatic, nearly shouting, half in jest, half in anger, “Why didn’t you include me in the text message. Don’t I count!”
The others laughed at my outburst (as I had wanted), but I also realized that I had overstated my case and began to apologize. Tim, one of the cyclists, said, “You need to take some time to center yourself.” He was right.
Preparing to race, Shannon is in pink vest
Shannon, also a cyclist, apologized that she had sent out the text invite and used an old thread that did not include me and several others. I calmed down and said it was okay, especially since I knew Shannon would not do it intentionally. Shannon is a gracious and generous child of God who gives of her time and energy to help others. She is a physical therapist who opens her workplace early on Sunday mornings so that our group of runners can do strength training as way to avoid injuries. She regularly travels to Haiti on mission trips and feels comfortable praying for our group. I consider her a friend.
As the runners and cyclist prepared to leave, Shannon approached me to see if I had a spare shirt. It was cooler than expected outside and she needed another layer. I looked in my running bag and pulled out the only long sleeve shirt I had: my finisher’s shirt from my last marathon. I teased Shannon that she needed to return it freshly laundered.
After a short prayer, the group headed out the door, cyclists and runners. I had a great run that morning and headed home prior to the cyclists’ return. It had been a gorgeous Saturday morning and, after my initial outburst, I was grateful for having a great group of runners to challenge and encourage me.
Later that afternoon, Tim called me to tell me some bad news. During the ride, Shannon had taken a fall. Fortunately she had a good bike helmet that had protected her head. Still she had to go the ER where she discovered that she had broken her collarbone.
I texted Shannon that I would be praying for her quick and full recovery. She texted back that she appreciated the prayers, she was doing all right but that she owed me a shirt, since they had to cut off her jersey and my shirt in the ER.
When I read the text, two thoughts in quick succession flashed into my mind.
The first thought was: “That was the finisher’s shirt from my last marathon. That can’t be replaced!”
The second deeper thought was, “John, which is more important, a shirt or a friendship?”
Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Matthew 25:40
The camaraderie came into clear focus this past year when one of our runners, Steve Libby, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February and died in May. During his illness, we visited him or huddled up to pray before our morning run. We organized a prayer service for him and shared Libby stories. We grieved at his memorial service and we continue to remember the way Libby touched our lives.
Pastor John Keller 