OP-ED: RUNNING SHOES AND SUPER GLUE
By Van Yandell
One of my running and bicycling friends and I used our shoes in stages. Stage one, while the soles were factory stable, was for running. Stage two was for bicycling or wearing in public. If we went to Walmart or Winn Dixie or the bike shop, we wore stage two shoes.
Stage three shoes were for garden and yard work and stage four were weed-eater shoes. By what would have been stage five, the shoes were falling apart and that stage would have been trash can shoes.
Yesterday, wife Margie told me, “You’re either going to have to buy a new pair of shoes or a new bottle of glue.” My running shoes have outlasted my bottle of glue and with many miles on their odometer, perhaps it’s time for a new pair of 608’s, my favorite.
It’s not that I’m a tightwad, I can glue my shoes back together easier than I can go buy a new pair. The shirt I wore to church Sunday was a yard sale found complete with tags. It hangs by my FFA jacket from high school.
And believe it or not, I can still zip my blue jacket with the yellow ear of corn, eagle’s wings, plow and owl on the back. With it zipped, I can’t breathe but the pride and discipline of my FFA experiences live on over sixty years later.
A fleece lined suede leather jacket that hangs in my closet was bought my junior year at Murray State University. It is still in excellent condition and has a “Made in U.S.A.” label in the collar.
Gluing my running shoes is not a matter of money management; it is a matter of getting the most from a product. Do we harvest or conserve the available and obvious? Why not make the most of our abilities and opportunities as we do the products we buy?
We set aside the gifts of our Creator for man-made frivolous products and activities. At a time in my life, I placed my physical condition above everything. It was above my career, my insatiable quest for experiences, and my Creator God.
Running was my life. I endured the day to go home and run. I skipped church to go run on Sunday mornings. I subscribed to “Runner’s World” magazine and read it religiously. I dreamed about my next run and became depressed when I couldn’t go for a run. Running was an obsession but considered a positive addiction! Endorphins are real.
I ran when the weather was cold and loved the feel of the cold air in my lungs. I ran when it was raining or even at times when there was snow on the ground. Yes, I slipped and fell a few times on the snow or ice.
To slip on ice and fall is better than slipping and falling away from the God that created us and gave us blessings beyond our ability to comprehend. Romans 3: 23 is about our human proclivities to slip and fall. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Of course, all sin is against God and one is, in His eyes, no better or worse than another (James 2: 10). However, I’d rather someone would steal from me than kill me, but that’s just my opinion.
Running was not only a physical activity, it was mental as well. At times it is more mental than physical. As Yogi Berra said “Baseball is ninety percent mental, the other half is physical.” The same can be said for running!
Could we possibly become as consumed with our Jesus and His last commandment to us? Many Christians call His last words before ascending, “The Great Commission.”
Acts 1: 8 KJV “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The power of the Christian comes from the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God in us). The degree of that power is determined by one’s faith based belief in God.
Nonetheless, we have a degree of God-given power from Him as stated in Acts 1: 8. Might we access that spiritual gift/blessing to fulfill His last commandment to us?
By stating “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth” we likely perceive those as geographic locations. With Samaria, this is not necessarily the case.
Samaritans were despised by the Jews in the first century. They were cross-breeds, being only part Jew and part other races. Jesus was surely telling us “If you’re waiting around for someone exactly like you to tell about Me, you may never tell anyone. Get over it!”
The “uttermost part of the earth” may not be in another country, but in your own neighborhood, where you work or go to school.
That difficult neighbor may very well be “the uttermost.” He or she may be living in your own home.
Whoever and wherever that person may be, it is our solemn responsibility to tell them about our Glorious Savior. I am responsible to tell; it is their responsibility to accept Christ as Lord and Savior.
At some point we have to realize we have fulfilled our obligation to tell and let the Holy Spirit do His job. Conviction of sin comes from God, not from people. We are only His voice, His hands and feet on earth. We do not have His power or authority.
The Bible teaches there is only one eternal salvation. That is by a faith based belief (Ephesians 2: 8) that Christ Jesus was crucified (Matthew 27: 35) for the remission of sin (Romans 4: 25), resurrected (Matthew 28: 6) and ascended alive into Heaven (Acts 1: 9). Tell someone!
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and missionary. His email is vmy3451@gmail.com