xxxi. Signs and Wonders - Running

Running:

Comes from Old English rinnan, of ancient Germanic origin.

1500 Metres

after a school sports carnival

This morning she’s like a cannon

from the starter’s gun

connected to a long string

of endless laps

on Autumn afternoons

and now there’s only three left

less than an angel’s flight

with her on practised wings

spectators sink into her speed

blurred distance cuts them

mown by her eyes

to the short turf of the track

now she runs alone

seagulls shape at her back

but she leads the flock

to an old trick of standing still

allowing the finishing line

to move instead to her

holding something like a record

and bearing ribbons and a trophy

in its wake

and long fingers.

Jeff Guess

Reflection:

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary edition, Are You Running With Me, Jesus? by ordained Episcopalian priest Malcolm Boyd is a groundbreaking treasury. Daring to break with the formal patterns of the era, Boyd's prayers are in a conversational tone, centered upon Jesus Christ Jesus as a compassionate Saviour to whom one can pray about anything, lofty or trivial. A true devotional classic, highly recommended for all Christians. "When a mind is closed and communication has ceased, how may a person be reached? If one's heart has never learned to love, or has stopped loving, how may the heart be taught, Jesus?"

Reading: Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! KJV