Life is Better With a Soundtrack

I understand that some people like running, but I’m not sure what’s wrong with them. I get it if you’re late, rushed or in danger. By all means, run. But for fun? I’ve taken it up lately and I can tell you, it’s not that appealing.

Someone, somewhere, told me that it’s good for my body. Someone, somewhere, told me that it is important for me to stay healthy. Someone, somewhere, convinced me to go through this nasty ordeal a few times a week. I don’t thank you for it.

All the plodding and shifting sounds my body makes as it tries to keep up with the pace of a treadmill are really quite distracting. All I can think about when I run is, “does anyone else hear this? And, if so, what are they thinking?”

The one thing that makes running tolerable, are earbuds connected to a phone in my pocket that blare music. It can’t just be any music. I’ve tried with the typical up-beat, move-your-feet tunes. Some work for a while, but you can only listen to “Whoa, we’re halfway there” so many times before you realize Bon Jovi is lying to you.

I found my genre and I found my song. Cinema score is the absolute most inspiring music to run to. For a few minutes, I actually feel like Harrison Ford whipping a few Nazis or running from a crushing boulder.

The absolute greatest song to run to comes from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. And yes, the last two thirds of that movie title completely describe my running style. Give a listen to The Ecstacy of Gold and you’ll see what I mean.

While plodding along at 5.5 miles per hour (if it goes faster, an explosion happens on the right side just beneath the rib cage - did you know this?), suddenly I become the Man with No Name and have the urge to keep pushing, running and sometimes actually sprint.

This shouldn’t have been a surprise to me. I listen to music during car trips, yard work and studying. Life is better with a soundtrack. I think that’s what makes scripture so important.

When I struggle in life, the way I endure depends on whether or not I have scripture flowing through me. It’s not that I have an easier time when I am in the Word or a harder time when I am not. That is most definitely not the case. It’s more that I can stay focused when my feet fall.

I can remember that Christ lives forever to pray on my behalf (Hebrews 7:25). I have belonged to God from the moment I was born (Psalm 22:10). I don’t just belong here, but I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6). 

This isn’t about reading some words on some page in some book. (I’ve had several times when that’s what reading scripture feels like, btw.) It’s not scripture, but the power of the Holy Spirit that is really flowing here. When I am consistently reading scripture, I more readily remember that I'm really not alone - even to the end of the age!