On Vows, Pledges and Running Marathons

November is typically Stewardship month in many United Methodist Churches. During this time we receive pledge cards and are asked to either begin or renew our commitment of planned giving to support the mission and ministry of our local churches. This challenge is framed within the context of our membership vows to support the church with "our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our serve and our witness."

 We are asked to make a commitment for the coming year. And while we don't know what the future holds, financially and otherwise, we are asked to make the commitment in faith that God would help us honor the promise that we make. It holds us accountable. Let me explain...

 When I sign-up to run a marathon or an ultra, first, I tell my family and my close friends. Then, I post it on social media and sometimes even blog about, especially if I am doing it as a prayer run or am running for a cause.

 But why do I do this, you may ask. When I sign-up for a marathon and tell everyone about it, I am not trying to brag. What I am attempting to do is build an accountability system for myself. I am making a commitment to run a race and to do the necessary training it entails and I am holding myself accountable to people around me.

 My wife is very good about "pushing me out the door" to run on days when I don't feel like it, when she knows I am training for a race. That, plus the fact that I am just grumpy on days that I don't get a run in.

 Good friends are good about asking how I am preparing for a race and if I were to answer them truthfully, then I need to really be preparing. Friends in the running community are good about asking details in my training like daily mileage, hydration and rest days. They are also good about doing training runs together. There is nothing better to get you out of bed and lacing up your shoes on a dark, sub-zero winter morning than the thought that your running buddy is counting on you to show up and run the usual 10-mile loop.

 When I run a race as a prayer run and dedicate miles to people, groups or churches I am praying for, I let them know about it. I make the commitment and ask for their commitment to be in prayer with me. Sometimes, I even ask them to run or walk or bike or ski or swim a mile "with" me. I build accountability. One of the races I love doing is the Willow Winter Solstice Marathon. It is done during the longest night of the year and in 2014, I dedicated it to those who are in dark times in their lives. On the eve of the race, I texted a friend who was going through "a long night" in his life and told him that I was running for him the next day. He said "thank you" and said he would be "joining me in prayer and looking forward to the coming of the light." I could not have possible backed-out of that race at that point.

 In many ways, I am able to stick to my goal of running marathon after marathon because of the commitment and accountability system I allow myself to be built around me. I believe the same is true with our membership and pledging. When we stood in front of the congregation and vowed to be loyal to Christ through the United Methodist Church, supporting it with our "prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness," we made ourselves accountable to others in our community of faith. When we fill-out and sign our pledge cards for the coming year and join others in offering them to God on Commitment Sunday, we also make a commitment to our sisters and brothers in the congregation.

 That is why we make a pledge. Think of it this way: If I sign-up for a marathon and let no one but myself know, it would be easier for me to drop out at some point in the prep, especially when the training gets really tough. Allowing our faith communities to hold us accountable to our vows and pledges gives us the necessary support to fulfill them.

 My prayers are with you as you consider your covenant of planned giving for 2016. I pray that God who has led you to make the commitment would also give you the grace and the means to fulfill it. May a web of loving accountability be formed by your local congregation to support you in fulfilling your pledge.

 Your fellow disciple,

 Carlo

 P.S. To the point I made above, I am signed up to run the Little-Su 50K on February 13. I also plan to again run the Willow Winter Solstice Marathon on December 19.

Comments

  1. Sandra StarkNovember 17, 2015 at 3:59 PM

    Yes...now to get back to that daily exercise log I keep...just like my spiritual log.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dave's DibbleNovember 18, 2015 at 1:17 PM

    Well said, my friend!
    Dave Beckett

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Papa and Mama: A "Coming Out" Letter

Image
February 23, 2019 St. Louis, Missouri Dear Papa and Mama, Design of Papa and Mama's tombstone in Baguio City, Philippines There’s something in my heart and mind that I’ve been wanting to tell you for some time now. While there’ve been chances to do so, I’ve avoided them not knowing how you would take it. My sense is you probably knew it already but you, too, have avoided the conversation, not knowing how it will go. I know I should have had this talk with you before each of you passed away and I regret not being able to do that. But I am writing this letter anyway, hoping and praying that somehow, as you are now in the presence of God and in the company of that great cloud of witnesses, you would read this, and you would understand. If I were back home in the Philippines, I would go to your gravesite and read this to you. But for now, this will have to do. So here it goes: I’m writing this on the floor of the Dome in St. Louis. It is the first day of the Special Called Sessi...
Read more

But God Was Not In The Wind...

Image
This is the fourth day since General Conference 2016 adjourned. Many reflections have been offered since. I would like to add my voice to the mix.  After the sudden turn of events at the beginning of the second week of General Conference, this scripture came to me: He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13, NRSV) Elijah was on the run. He had just defeated 450 prophets of Baal i...
Read more

Blue Christmas Run... for those in the dark

Image
This Saturday, I will be running the Willow Solstice Marathon in Willow, Alaska for the third straight year. Last year, I did it as a prayer run, playing on the theme of it being held on the winter solstice, the longest night (or at least the Saturday closest to it) and dedicating the run to those who are in the "longest nights" of their lives. I plan to do that again this weekend. I am reposting excerpts from a blog post I wrote a year ago because my words then are still my words now as I again dedicate this run in prayer and solidarity for you who are living in darkness right now. +++ I am running the Willow Winter Solstice Marathon this Saturday. It will be another prayer run for me. This time, I'm running for those who can't. Let me explain. From its name, the Willow Marathon is held on a Saturday closest to the winter solstice, the day when the darkness is longest. In some churches, a Longest Night or Blue Christmas service is held and is specificall...
Read more