Born to Run

I just finished an excellent book - Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen (New York: Vintage Books, 2009) - which I'd like to share a few reflections from (thanks to my brother for sharing it with me!)...

The book is an account by a contemporary sports writer and running enthusiast about an Indian tribe, the Tarahumara, in a remote area of Mexico who have managed to conserve their ancient tradition of running long distances in the mountains even to this day. The author is intrigued by the group's continued existence in spite of untold adversities and weaves a fascinating account of personal growth and transformation over the course of his journey. It's a wonderful read and I won't spoil its many surprises. However, I did want to share just a couple of excerpts:

'We say the [race] is the game of life...You never know how hard it will be. You never know when it will end. You can't control it. You can only adjust'...And...no one gets through it on their own. Even a superstar...couldn't win without a village behind him" (41).

It may sound cliché but in many ways it really does "take a village." Whether in actual running or in the game of life itself we don't and can't get through it all on our own. We need support, friendship, and solidarity with others in order to reach our highest potential.

"You can't hate the Beast and expect to beat it; the only way to truly conquer something, as every great philosopher and geneticist will tell you, is to love it" (124-125).

Here the author is referring to the extreme fatigue and adversity ("the Beast") that can set in for runners at various points in their races. As experience shows, trying to defeat such forces directly usually only emboldens them all the more. Rather, what is needed is the sort of love for them that accepts them for what they are even as it also refuses to be defined by them.

In a way, perhaps dealing with prejudices and misguided individuals and institutions in our own lives is a bit analogous. We might not be able to defeat the opposition we sometimes face outright or immediately but, in continuing to exist, in living with the pain and yet knowing that we're greater than it, we gradually start showing the truth for what it is. Just maybe, little by little, step by (sometimes challenging) step, we allow a little more light to shine, a little more of what is real and what is good to be known among us.

Peace,
Padre Chuck