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Thinking Our Way to Victory – and Glorifying God

April 10, 2025

Genesis 17:1-8 | John 8:51-59 | Psalm 105:4-11

​”Arm us with such trust in him that we may ask no rest from his demands and have no fear in his service.”

I was having a discussion with my daughter the other day about how to slog through a long run.  She is on her high school XC/track team and increasingly running longer races with faster times. I am a semi-retired runner who still enjoys racing from time to time.  We have both found inspiration by reading “Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory,” by marathon Olympian Deena Kastor.  Deena figured out – fortunately for her – early in her career that it was not her strong legs that won races, but her strong mind.  And just like leg muscles, the mind needs to be exercised regularly.  Deena would “trick” herself into feeling good during a hard run by moving her mind away from negative thoughts (“I’m cold” or “I’m hungry” or “I’m tired” – phrases she removed from her vocabulary) to positive thoughts about the smallest details around her – a bird chirping in a tree, the sun beating on her face, how she felt as if she was carried by wind when she passed a fellow runner.  And after months and years of training herself she mentally surpassed most endurance runners, leading her to victory after victory. 

This strategy, while secular as written, I believe is not dissimilar to how we approach Lent.  We are made to suffer physically and mentally during this time.  It is part of the deal.  We keep a low profile, possibly “give up” something that gives us pleasure, help others instead of ourselves, and fast to focus on preparing for Easter.  But I for one have not heard anyone complain being too hungry or too uncomfortable!  We endure our sufferings just like running a long race.  And being able to endure gives us the confidence (or mind shift?) to focus on positive thoughts beyond ourselves – glorifying God.  A bit of mind trickery a la Deena Kastor!  And it works.  Maybe we have not won a race, but we certainly have achieved a victory!  New beginnings lie ahead.

Laura Bottaro