{"id":481,"date":"2008-12-04T08:31:24","date_gmt":"2008-12-04T13:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=481"},"modified":"2008-12-14T13:36:17","modified_gmt":"2008-12-14T18:36:17","slug":"contemplating-while-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/contemplating-while-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Contemplating While Running"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>So you are out for your daily run and “bam” God decides to run alongside you.\u00a0 What would you talk about? Or you are running along and you see God cross the trail in front of you?\u00a0 While I don’t think that would happen in a literal sense, I do think that you can see God all around you – not in the pantheistic<\/a> sense, but in the sense that God created everything and therefore a part of Him is in that creation (similar to an artist).<\/p>\n

Continuing the look at Running – the Sacred Art<\/em> – the next chapter is titled “Seeing God While Running.” Warren Kay alludes to God as an artist who leaves their mark on every painting (creation) which is easily identified by someone who knows about God.\u00a0 Kay describes two types of seeing, with our eyes and with our brains.\u00a0 On a normal run or throughout the course of the day we may see thousands if not millions of images and details.\u00a0 Most of them we pay no attention to, how often do you see and comprehend the same buildings during your daily run or commute? Kay says that we often see things, but don’t let our brains interpret them.\u00a0 Using the example of an optical allusion, two people may see two different things – a rabbit or a duck – depending on their perspectives.<\/p>\n

Go for a run with a watch and mp3 player, now run the same route without either.\u00a0 Did you see anything different? I think most of us do.\u00a0 What we see is shaded by who we are: pessimist, atheist, analytical thinker, etc. Do you ever take time to think about God or your spiritual being during a run? I like this quote from page 46:<\/p>\n

We can’t see God directly in the trees, mountains, lakes, buildings, and cars. But if we know how to look, we can see God in them, because God is present in them. Just about everything has the potential to become a means for seeing God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kay encourages us to multitask while we run. Not in the podcast\/music listening way, but in a contemplative way.\u00a0 His three tasks to “practice the spirituality of running” are 1) following commonsense running advice, 2) looking at the surroundings, and 3) contemplating the notion of the Sacred.\u00a0 These combined form what he has called contemplative running. <\/em><\/p>\n

Combining his definitions contemplative running<\/em> would be: running while self-consciously living in the presence of God.\u00a0 This type of running gives you the opportunity to “see and experience God’s good creation, which includes your own body.”<\/p>\n

What do you think about this type of running?<\/p>\n

[tags] Sacred Art<\/a>, Running<\/a>, Spiritual<\/a>, Warren Kay<\/a> [\/tags]<\/p>\n

\"Reblog<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So you are out for your daily run and “bam” God decides to run alongside you.\u00a0 What would you talk about? Or you are running along and you see God cross the trail in front of you?\u00a0 While I don’t think that would happen in a literal sense, I do think that you can see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[56,323],"tags":[175,177,314,176,339,338,340],"class_list":["post-481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-spiritual","tag-christianity","tag-god","tag-religion-and-spirituality","tag-sacred","tag-sacred-art","tag-spirituality","tag-warren-kay"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-7L","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":284,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/foundations-of-a-spiritual-runner\/","url_meta":{"origin":481,"position":0},"title":"Foundations of a Spiritual Runner","author":"crossn81","date":"November 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"For the next few weeks I'm going to take an in depth look at a book I stumbled upon while on a \"Barnes and Nobles date\" with my wife. Running - the Sacred Art written by Warren Kay looked like an intriguing book that would capture my Christian spirituality and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=crossinator-20&l=ur2&o=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":765,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/running-as-a-sacrament-what\/","url_meta":{"origin":481,"position":1},"title":"Running as a Sacrament – What?","author":"crossn81","date":"January 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Image via Wikipedia So far in this series on the spiritual side of running we've talked about a lot of issues that are pretty forthright.\u00a0 The next topic in Running the Sacred Art is a little harder to talk about because it has more theological underpinnings and isn't as widely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Last Supper in Milan (1498), by Leonardo d...","src":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/08\/Leonardo_da_Vinci_%281452-1519%29_-_The_Last_Supper_%281495-1498%29.jpg\/202px-Leonardo_da_Vinci_%281452-1519%29_-_The_Last_Supper_%281495-1498%29.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":760,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/running-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":481,"position":2},"title":"Running Prayers","author":"crossn81","date":"December 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Image via Wikipedia I'm sure you've heard the old saying, \"There are no atheists in foxholes.\" (wikipedia) It is kind of a funny things to say, but the point is that under enemy fire even atheists are praying to a higher power.\u00a0 Continunig to go through Warren Kay's Spirituality of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"brush drawing on blue primed paper","src":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/c\/c2\/Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_Betende_H%C3%A4nde.jpg\/202px-Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_Betende_H%C3%A4nde.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":762,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/meditation-during-a-run\/","url_meta":{"origin":481,"position":3},"title":"Meditation During a Run?","author":"crossn81","date":"December 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Image via Wikipedia When I say meditation what comes to mind? Yoga? Monks? Probably not Christianity though.\u00a0 For whatever reason meditation conjures up negative ideas and feelings for many people.\u00a0 But Warren Kay is willing to take a deeper look at it in his Running the Sacred Art book. Kay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A large statue in Bangalore depicting Shiva me...","src":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/f\/fc\/Sivakempfort.jpg\/202px-Sivakempfort.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":774,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/finding-your-running-life-balance\/","url_meta":{"origin":481,"position":4},"title":"Finding Your Running Life Balance","author":"crossn81","date":"January 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In the final chapter of Running - the Sacred Art we come full circle to the concepts laid down at the onset of this book.\u00a0 I really like this George Sheehan quote Warren Kay uses to open the chapter: Don't be concerned if running or exercise will add years to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":317,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/spirituality-a-running-definition\/","url_meta":{"origin":481,"position":5},"title":"Spirituality: A Running Definition","author":"crossn81","date":"November 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I had hoped we were ready to move past the point of defining terms and such, but I guess we had forgotten the most important term.\u00a0 This term is actually in title, no it isn't running or art.\u00a0 Confused? Well it is actually in the series title - Spirituality.\u00a0 Keeping\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Review"","block_context":{"text":"Book Review","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A sadhu performing namaste in Madurai, India.","src":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/6\/6b\/Indian_sadhu_performing_namaste.jpg\/202px-Indian_sadhu_performing_namaste.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":923,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions\/923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}