Eleven and a Half Hours

So my kids and I were standing by the finish line the other day, waiting for my beautiful bride to cross the finish line of her half-marathon (so proud of her!) and watching all the hard-core runners cross in ridiculously fast times. The race announcer knew all the top finishers and kept us in the loop of many of their previous feats as they came down the chute.

I was struck by the announcer's comment as one middle-aged man crossed. Apparently this particular man had recently completed the IronMan Canada in 11 1/2 hours which was great news because he then qualified for the IronMan World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Aside from the sheer marvel of completing an IronMan Triathalon (3.8km swim; 180km bike; 42.2km run) and being able to endure that intense of a fitness work out for 11+ hours, I couldn't help but wonder how many hours he had spent to train for that one event. And what did he get as a result? The chance to do it all over again.

Now, I don't want to downplay the incredible achievement it is to complete an IronMan (let alone qualify for the world championships), but I was thinking about how, so often in our lives, we become passionately engaged in things that, a year from now, no one else will remember. And how much energy we invest in activities that will have little long-term return. And what happens is that we end up surrounding ourselves with equal passion around the same stuff we've allowed to distract us (just talk to someone whose passionate about running!).

Truth is, I can easily become that. It is so easy for me to become distracted with stuff that no one will care about a year, or a decade or a century from now. Don't hear me getting down on hobbies or exercise or any of that; I truly believe that there is a place for all of that. I enjoy running and exercise and hockey and stuff. But I think it's easy for us to allow those hobbies or those activities to distract us from the stuff that really matters. I hope and I pray that the things I do matter not just for a week or year or century, but for eternity.

It is my hope that, the things I do have more significance than having people look at me and go "Wow, that's crazy!" and have some random pastor blog about it later that week. It is my hope that the life I live impacts the life that others live forever. I want to live with an eye to eternity, not just to the next thing (whatever that next thing might be).