Faith in the Wake of the Boston Marathon Bombing

Bombs at the Boston Marathon. I was at a loss.

It has taken me a few days to decide what I really feel and what  I really want to say.

First I felt angry and wanted to rant. I wanted to write pages on how I hoped and prayed that God's justice would be swift and heavy. I wanted to see God come out with some Old Testament style vengeance and fast. But then I remembered my Romans.

Then I was sad and wanted to pout my heart out. I was broken when I heard that an 8 year old boy was the first to die. I'm expecting my first child in June, and my wife has often encouraged me in my running by saying how fun it will be to race with my child cheering me on. The image of that dream was shatter with one headline.

Then I started to read things from writers much better than myself. Writers like Donald Miller who wrote this post about the goodness of all people. That gave me some much needed Godly perspective.

Then I saw cartoons like this one, reminding me how Americans have a history of stepping over old differences and pulling together during rough times. That made me feel proud of where I come from.



Image Credit:  cartoonist Bill Bramhall of Daily News

So, what am I feeling now? A strong sense of conviction. About what exactly?

That this is another example of how much this world needs a God who begs us to love one another.

That there will be more good than bad that comes from this when it's all said and done.

That we will never really know why all this happened and that we don't need to know, because this is not our world.

I am convicted that whoever did this picked on the wrong country, the wrong city and certainly the wrong sport.

I am convicted that Boston and its wonderful marathon will rise up from this.

Above all, I am convicted that God would want us to go on loving each other, running until our legs can't carry us any father, and doing whatever we can to promote a world where nobody would ever want to do something like this again.

The Need to Fall

I have fallen down on a run before. Most of runner have. Depending on the speed, terrain, and how far into the run one is, falls can take quite a toll on a runner. I've seen a fellow marathoner fall as we crossed a wet foot bridge. He got right back up and kept on going. I've seen a friend take quick slip down a hill that ended that days training, forcing us to walk back the way we came.

Falling seems bad. You were headed in one direction, and then you're not. You were doing what you thought was right (it is widely acceptable to move during a run), and now you're not. You weren't in any great amount of pain, and now you are. Falling seems bad.

So, why is this article entitled "The Need to Fall"? Who needs to fall? You do. We all do.

Sometime we are unknowingly running, physically or metaphorically, in the wrong direction. Sometimes we're just headed there too fast. Sometimes we're on the wrong path altogether, or one that is just too dangerous.

Why would we do such obviously stupid things? We're sinners, case you haven't heard, and that's what we do. Like it or not, we will lead ourselves down dangerous paths. Even those of us who love Christ with all of our hearts have taken our eyes off the cross and ignored the light on our path from time to time.


Falling forces us to stop, collect our thoughts, and make a decision about what to do next. Although we'll deny it, God knows we need to do all of those things more often than we'd like. Hopefully, the fall wakes us up to what He has probably been silently suggesting all along.


Anyone who has ever run towards the cross can tell you about times they have fallen. That's the story of belief. Anyone who still believes can tell you about a time they have fallen and managed to get back on the right path. That's the story of faith.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

God as a coach - A failed experiment?

Back in August, I wrote a post about Ryan Hall's performance in the 2012 Olympic marathon and what it meant in light of his special training method. At the time, Ryan was practicing faith based coaching; where a runner relies on his or her God to direct their physical training.

As you might have seen, Ryan recently announced that he will begin training under a new, mortal, flesh and blood coach. Ryan's new coach, Renato Canova, seems quite impressive, and I am certainly a fan of his rumored emphasis on hill work.

Although this isn't the first time Ryan has trained under a human coach, I'm excited to see what Canova brings out in him. I can't help but wonder, however, how Ryan will adjust to this change in his professional running life. Here's some of what he had to say about the change:

While this is certainly a new chapter in my career I don't feel like it's a huge departure from how I have operated in the past. - MSN Innovation For Endurance - 

Not a huge departure? Ryan used to be solely coached by God and now has a human coach? How is that not a big departure. Doesn't this mean he has given up on God to direct his running? Doesn't this mean that God failed Ryan as a coach? No, I don't think that's what this means at all.

I believe Proverbs 3:6 can be of good use here. The passage says "in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." If we are to truly enjoy life to the fullest as only God can provide, we must allow Him control over all aspects of our lives. I believe that is what Ryan Hall was doing when he placed his professional life fully in God's control. How did that work out? In terms of Olympic victories, not so great. But, what about spiritual victories? How can anyone but Ryan himself judge how many spiritual victories were won during this period of his life?

Maybe that was the whole point of his faith-based coaching experience? Maybe God wanted to train Ryan's faith instead of his running. Maybe now that Ryan's faith has been strengthened to the level God desired, God has put a fantastic running coach in Ryan's path so that his running can reach the highest of levels.

This is what I like to call "the head fake" - where someone asks you to do one thing in order to teach you something else. By submitting his running to God, Ryan probably learned volumes about faith and God's provision. One would have assumed that by submitting his running to God, He would have blessed Ryan's running. That just isn't God's style. He isn't that predictable.

So, before we all start cynically quipping "Ha, that God-coached thing sure didn't work very well did it?", we should ask ourselves, did we really expect God to train Ryan Hall in running when He had the perfect chance to train him in matters of Godliness?"

Ryan Hall - Christian Runner or Running Christian

American distance runner Ryan Hall has been in the news a lot in recent months. Leading up to the London Olympics, he did several interviews that centered on his controversial coach: God. Yes, Hall is "self-coached" but he claims that he's not really alone. This isn't merely posturing. Many have heard how he once wrote God in as his coach on an official drug test form. When he was told by an official to list a real person, he responded with "He is a real person". Obviously Hall doesn't struggle with conviction.

The New York Times featured an in depth article detailing exactly how Hall manages to be a "legitimate" faith based runner. Apart from devotional acts that most would expect from a professing Christian (praying, reading scripture, etc), Hall even takes one day off from training to honor the Sabbath - itself a sin to many in the distance running world.

Hall doesn't get overly literal about this, however. Hall was quoted saying "The Bible is not going to tell you how to be a good runner, just like it's not going to tell you how to build a computer," It could be said that he relies on God more for inspiration than absolute direction. (Ex - Try to push yourself today vs Run 10x1000 at tempo). Not to say absolute direction from God can't or hasn't happened. That's a question for Hall to answer.

After his 2nd place finish at the US Olympic Trials, there was little doubt in the running world that Hall had a shot at bringing home some hardware from London. The final day of the Olympics arrived and everyone was ready to see him shine.

Then, it happened. Just 10 miles into the race, Ryan Hall dropped out of the marathon - a career first. I had never seen anything like it. Sitting on my couch in the early morning hours, I was simply shocked.

I went on Twitter later that day searching for people bashing Hall and his coach. What I found was much more uplifting.

"You continue to inspire me," with the hashtag #GodIsStillGood  - Ryan Hall to Meb Keflezighi, Hall's teammate who was the only American to finish the marathon.

While most would say Hall failed in London, I think he achieved something amazing.

Hall's motivation for switching to faith based training are well summed up in this quote:
“I was a runner who happened to be a Christian. I needed to become a Christian who happened to be a runner.” Simply - Ryan wanted to go from being a Christian runner, a type of runner, to a running Christian, a type of Christian.

If Ryan was a Christian runner when he toed the line in London, his goal would have been to win the race, and a DNF would have totally demoralized him. Since it's pretty obvious that, while he was no doubt shocked and upset, Hall found a silver lining in the outcome of the race and could put it in a bigger perspective, the label of Christian runner fails to define him.

So, Ryan, for what it's worth, it is this bloggers opinion that you should consider your task complete.
Ryan Hall, running Christian.

1st Corinthians 9: 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.