Pastor Ed’s Blog

Subtle Shades of Vanity

Winston Churchill once said that the only exercise he ever got was serving as a pallbearer at the funeral of his friends…who died while exercising. He conceded that exercise adds years to your lifespan, but you spend those years exercising…big deal!

Most of us aren’t quite as cynical about the value of exercise. Not that we necessarily exercise, but we at least affirm it’s value.

I have an additional reason to exercise: exercise, according to many scientific studies, has the added benefit of providing significant neuroprotection (and I need to protect what remaining neurons I have left).

So, I go running in Brookdale Park. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I go jogging/walking, with occasional bursts of rapid jogging that approximates running.

It’s been over two years that I’ve seriously gone running (not jogging but really running). So, my oxygen-starved cells remind me very quickly that I haven’t run for a long time. I figure, as long as I can just keep moving, I’m doing well; I’m not concerned about breaking any world records.

Although, sometimes it can be embarassing. One day, while I was jogging, two 12-year old girls passed me like I was standing still…and they were walking!

Not to be outdone by a pair of pre-pubescent girls, I quickened my pace, carefully restrained my heavy breathing, and pushed my oxygen-depleted body up the approaching hill (it would be on a hill). After I had gained sufficient ground on the two girls, and rounded a bend in the path, I slowed to a walk, gasping for air and holding my side.

Then, this thought occurred to me: Why did I care what these two young girls thought of me? After all, they were listening to their iPods and so engrossed in their animated conversation (something about how cute Bobby is), that I’m sure they never gave a second thought to some old guy who was moving at the speed of molasses.

And it wasn’t just these girls. Whenever I passed someone on the path, I felt an instinctive need to hide my frailty, my   weakness, my humanity. I straightened up, picked up the pace, lengthened my stride, and did my best impersonation of an Olympic runner (knowing that even my best impersonation of an Olympic runner wouldn’t impress anyone).

I think of the words of Solomon (or whoever wrote Ecclesiastes) when he said, “All is vanity…” We worry so much about what people think of us, only to realize people weren’t thinking about us at all!

So, if you happen to be at Brookdale Park and someone goes flying past you with the grace and form of an Olympic runner…it won’t be me. At least not yet.