My friend Tom recently went on the trip of a lifetime for their 25th wedding anniversary to visit children in Scotland and Italy. He kept us updated throughout with photos, and the one above of “Scot’s view” came back to mind last night.
I then recalled a blog I had considered writing while on the other side of the Irish sea where the Ulster countryside mirrors this same landscape. I also took a few photos.
I had been running along the Comber Greenway when I spotted another diminutive jogger up ahead. I decided I would use him as ‘a pacer’ to pull me along. At one point he disappeared off the trail. I just kept going, but decided to switch to some high intensity intervals, sprinting hard for 30 seconds and then walking until I had recovered. I decided for each sprint I would select an arbitrary whin bush as a starting point and another whin bush that I pushed myself toward as a finishing line.
Having completed 8 such sprints I was punctured and was bowed over to recover my breath when I heard the patter of tiny feet approaching from behind. My ‘pacer’ brushed lightly past smiling and with great glee exclaiming “My 5th time this week from Belfast to Comber. Have you ever tried the trail up the hill?…Oh! it’s wonderful” …..and disappeared off into the distance as I was still gathering breath.
As I turned and at a more gentle pace headed back home, Dad connected the whins, that is, the dots for me, by saying, “That one’s joy (still not sure whether he was human or an angel – or a leprechaun! ) is my joy – meant for you, because the way my plan is set up, no matter how you run, in the end it will all be seen to be my brilliant ‘whin-whin’……YOU CAN’T LOSE!”
St. Paul who “finished the race” (2 Tim 4:7) set before him (Heb.12:1), spoke from this ‘can’t lose’ place of sublime joy both for himself personally…….. “For me to live is Christ – to die is gain!”
And for the whole of creation……….“And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself – back to it’s original intent, restored to innocence again!” (Col.1:20 (TPT)
