Longer Shorter

Al-mooooooos-t home. Same way I drive home from church all the time. 6.3 miles. East on Highway 2. South on 56th. East on Cavvy. South on 59th. 6.3 miles. Yet. Since I've been gone for two long days. Didn't sleep well either of the past two nights. Ate too much while visiting with colleagues. And road weary from all the miles. These last miles seem longer the shorter the distance is to home. Longer shorter.

On my mind. Near a year ago now I lost a good friend. A man who I respected like few. A man who held the admiration of all. A man of character. A man who fought cancer for months. And won. Relocating to a mansion on a street of gold. Yet. It was tough to see him go. His passing came slowly. The days seemed longer the closer he got to his eternal home. Longer shorter.

Thoughts now of a my last marathon. Absent here so far. 26.2 miles. Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon. Same race that I'd run a year previous. A hilly course, but much, much better weather this year. Yet. I was undertrained. Too few miles those months before. Too little consistency as well. Too fast on my first half. Too spent on the second. Those last miles. Those last few miles. Seemed so much longer the closer I got to the finish line. Longer shorter.

Longer shorter is not real.

It just seems real.

Road weary. Sickness weary. Race weary.

Weary.

But ready to be welcomed. Ready to be at the end of the road. End of the earthly journey. End of the race.

Weary.

But expectant of things to come.

That expectation. That makes longer shorter.

Would that I live each day as a gift with the urgency of eternity pressing me to live every moment fully here.

Longer shorter.