Well, we are finally on the other side of Mariah Carey memes and Last Christmas (I did not make it this season without hearing this song, last season, I did), the cookies are almost gone, and the baby Jesus is settling in nicely with his mum and dad in the manger on the altar. And so, we come to the end of the year. This is my reflection.
Peace on Earth
On January 6, the Church celebrates what is known as the Epiphany or the symbolic festival celebrating the arrival of the magi or in some traditions, the three kings who visited the infant Jesus in Bethlehem.
As an ancient tradition in the Christian Church, Epiphany encourages “Christians to reflect on the spiritual meaning of Christ’s manifestation and its significance in their faith. This season highlights the themes of light, revelation, and divine manifestation. It is a time to celebrate the revelation of God’s love and grace through Jesus Christ.
The importance of Epiphany lies in its message of hope and redemption. It reminds us of the infinite love of God for humankind and the power of faith to transform lives. This feast day encourages Christians to share the light of Christ with others and to spread love and compassion in their communities.”
As we close out 2024, I encourage us to reflect on the strength of our hope after a year that for some was a terrible disappointment politically, a year that has exposed us to numerous accounts of school violence, environmental disasters and a myriad of other calamities.
It is going to get better; this is not the worst it has ever been. God continues to show up every day and pour love into us and God’s grace is sufficient. Just as the early Christians were hopeful for an end to the tyranny, they endured under the reign of the Caesars, we too are hopeful and should maintain this hope for an end to all the political chaos, the violence and the loss that the incarnate Christ brings to our world.
Chronic Conditions and Getting Older – A Reflection on What I Learned
I have been dealing with some weirdness since having COVID in 2021. After a year of intentionally reflecting on what is actually going on, I am settling on three likely explanations, some sort of post-exercise fatigue issues, some sort of mitochondrial dysfunction and general burnout with long-distance running. This last one is a hard pill to swallow, I really wanted to believe that I was over the crazy season I had in 2020.
In February of this year, I wrote my first post about chronic conditions and experiences I was having. In this post, I naively thought I was going to make a go at running 50k’s again this year. I realized this was not going to be the case when I wrote in May after my 25k at Hyner View 25k.
In dealing with these conditions, I wrote this in February, “Dealing with and managing chronic conditions can be mentally and physically exhausting. With long Covid and many of the autoimmune problems I see as a mental health clinician, the answers to these medical concerns are not as easily addressed by simply offering a medicine. Often it takes a lot of sleuth work on the patient to then present to the doctor. If the doctor is willing, a collaboration between doctor and patient occurs and other specialties like endocrinology, dermatology, psychiatry, and others are brought in to address the concern integrally.”
This year has been a path of discovery for me in terms of dealing with mostly fatigue. Acceptance (see the section, “An Awareness of Change”) as I wrote in my May post has been spiritual practice in this area this year. As I am writing this now, I feel that I am settling into this new reality and embracing what I can do versus what I used to be able to do. The reality is this is what I am going to be facing over the next 25- 30 years as I am close to the midcentury point. I am not getting any younger.
A Reflection after a Year of Contemplative Reflection and Writing
The opportunity to blog consistently over the last year has really brought me back to the heart of my experiences of lectio, meditatio, oratio and contemplatio that I was first exposed to as a young man.
I probably spend about four hours a day reading something, articles, books, prayers and various memes and blog posts each day. Anywhere from 1 – 3 hours of my day is spent exercising or engaging in sort of movement activity that I try and use as time to think about either what I am reading, writing or eventually going to talk about with my client. While this has been my mode of operation for the last 25 years, the intensity I have experienced over the last year doing it intentionally for a blog post has not been experienced since I was actively writing sermons and bible studies as a pastor.
Several spiritual practices come to mind as I reflect on my year of contemplative writing. Being Present, Devotion and the practice of discipline.
My day at some point over the last 30 years has centered around lectio and prayer. My engagement with the Benedictines over the last 22 years has fostered and set a pattern of making every day and every moment a time of prayer and work. It is an embodiment of Paul’s challenge in Thessalonians to “rejoice and pray without ceasing”. Later in my studies, I would learn that Seneca was a contemporary of Paul’s and more than likely the two shared similar philosophies. Knowing this and reflecting on this and all that I have learned in a lifetime of contemplative living strengthens my devotional practice. This year of contemplative writing has been an exercise of intentionality.
Goals for the Next Year
I set out this year to return to ultra running and instead settled into listening to my body and in the process found more time to do the other things I enjoy. Ultrarunning served a specific purpose in my life in a very difficult time. I am no longer there. Next year, my wife and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary. We are planning a trip to the Adirondacks to celebrate and have the time we wanted on our honeymoon when it rained the entire time. We are also continuing to adjust to empty nesting, in 2025, we will have another child finish high school and enter college.
The next section of the Appalachian Trail that I will be hiking is a seventy-five section from Roan Mountain, VA to Damascus, VA. My original destination was not on the AT next year, instead, I was going to hike the Laurel Highlands Trail. With Hurricane Helene destroying large sections of the AT in Georgia, N. Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, it was decided to support the communities there and scrap my thru hike of the Laurel Highlands Trail.
My running schedule reflects the tempo I found myself in 2024. I will be completing the Western Reserve Dirty Trail Series. Maybe a 2–3-day bike pack with my daughter. Biking and hiking with my wife. Hiking with my daughter. Trail maintenance on the North Country Trail.
Goodbye 2024, it has been a blast. A little less stressful than years past. It moved way too fast.
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