Kate Brenner
Running blends body and spirit. For me, running is a pathway to the Divine. When I go out running, I can outrun the normal world. As I start, the time alone allows me to think, to review my day, my issues, my to do list. But as I run further, I begin to run out of the noise that my mind makes on its own. As I go further and further, I can literally run away from the issues of everyday and into a holy place.
This site can help you explore ways to promote and enhance that feeling. Prayers and meditation techniques to reach that spot sooner, more often. To stay there longer and enrich the experience.
This site is about the mystical experience of the Divine. I am a Christian and my experience is Christian, but I believe that the Divine can be directly experienced by any person of any faith.
I have been deeply influenced by the work of Marcus Borg. His book, "The God We Never Knew" explores the direct experience of the Divine.
My own experience of the Divine, through running, has led me to seek ways of reliving the experience. I find that prayer focuses the mind and opens the heart. My first experience of this was running and feeling the need for prayer. I have never been very good or felt very comfortable at creating my own prayers, so I tried to remember a prayer that I could recite. I immediately turned to the Lord's Prayer and found that I could recite it in its entirety. I continued to run, repeating the prayer over and over. With each repetition, I could see new meaning in the well worn words. I could feel hundreds of generations of Christians repeating the same prayer, in times of trouble and loss, in times of celebration, and in unison in faith communities and churches on every continent. I felt closer to God, I realised how I rely on God to provide, to forgive and sustain me, to comfort and protect me.
Prayer
Any prayer that is meaningful to you is a prayer that you should use. If you can remember a long prayer, that's great. You may want to use one prayer often, or you may want to change prayers frequently. The Psalms are excellent prayers. You can read through them and select bits of them that touch your heart. You can look up prayers online. An excellent source of prayer that changes everyday can be found at Sacred Spaces, a site created and maintained by Irish monks.
There are two very basic prayers; "Help me" and "Thank you". These can be used at any time and can be expanded on to your hearts content. Meister Eckhart has said "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough".
Mantras
From Marcus Borg: "Lord Jesus Christ, you are the light of the world; fill my mind with your peace, and my heart with your love."
Meditation