True confession....I'm somewhat addicted to the TV show "The Gilmore Girls." I love the dialogue, the themes and especially the small town of Stars Hollow where the show takes place. I love the idea of living in a small town where everyone knows each other, everything is local and everyone participates in town events.
Maybe that is what prompted me to attend our "Linthicum/Shipley Association" meeting a few weeks ago. There has been an increase in crime as of late and many of the locals are complaining that it is due to our local light rail stop. There were police officers, transit authorities, our delegates and hundreds of neighbors who all showed up to discuss closing the light rail. Now there are signs all over my neighborhood and I'm getting about 15-20 emails a day about it. I had to chuckle at the meeting about how up and arms people were getting about the whole thing. We live in a suburb of Baltimore City.....of course there is going to be crime. But what struck me is how the "group think" mentality sets in so quickly and all of a sudden everyone is on board with something they otherwise might not have been. Everyone wants to be part of something that is greater than themselves.
People ask me (my husband included) why I waste the time training for long distance races and then waste money paying to run them. Why wake up before dawn to fit in 17 miles of running when you could be in bed sleeping or enjoying an extra cup of coffee over the morning paper? Why lose toenails, get awful chub rub and not be able to walk because of joint pain for days on end? Same reasons as the town meetings.....a desire to be part of something greater than yourself. There is very little that exhilirates me as much as running in a group of thousands of other people who are just as crazy as me, who have trained just as hard as me, are probably in as much pain as me....all trying to accomplish the same thing. There's this amazing sense of community and camaraderie (another CLOSE THE LIGHTRAIL email just popped up in my inbox) associated with running and that definitely contributes to "runners high."
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. For those who don't know what that is....Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten season. There are 40 days (7 weeks) leading up to Easter where we in the Christian church remember the death of our Lord who sacrificed his life to pay the penalty for the sins of all believers. These 40 days are spent in prayer, remembering Christ's death and anticipating his resurrection on Easter Sunday. In many ways, the meaning of Easter for me is also being part of something greater than myself. I believe that Christ's death and resurrection impact my life in such a way that I am a completely changed person beacuse of it. I think every other Christian would agree with me on that point. Easter is not about some scary large white bunny or chocolate eggs (even though I loooove them). It isn't an isolated event that happened thousands of years ago where some really good man died and people are still talking about it to this day. No- it impacts me and changes me. The Easter story is MY story. The Easter story is OUR story. Together we travel down the road of life striving towards the same goal....just like the homeowners and just like the crazy runners.
So I guess my challenge to my Christian readers.....spend this Lenten season focusing on our story. Is his sacrifice the main undercurrent for your life's story? For my non-Christian readers....join the community. Be part of something far greater than yourself. You won't regret it :)
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