Running America

It’s so nice to be home, rested and running now a week after being in Africa. How I missed the moments to get away, rejuvenate my body and soul, and think. Oh to run, there is no such option as not to run.

This week of running and working out has been refreshing. The first couple of days I was sore. It didn’t help that 10 hours before my first outing I had sat on a plane for 35 hrs. The little things. Muscles I hadn’t used were being stretched (but not pulled) in a different way since I had been gone. Of course, I wasn’t a sloth in Africa; I ran a bit here and there with the kids around the school yard, down the beach until the rocky wall met me after 200 meters, and away from the geese than wanted to nip at my toes at every passing chance. But it wasn’t the same so I was glad that running in the states was like riding a bike. I didn’t forget or fall off.

Running in the States versus Africa has taken on a more metaphorical idea as of late (ie the last week). Africans don’t run in general. The day’s events and tasks are completed in due time without much rush. Americans SPRINT or RUN a marathon everyday. Each 24 hours (limits are tough to take) is jam packed with activities, meetings, and deadlines.

In Africa, everything works on “Africa time.” While one pastor challenged his people to alter this habit in order to prosper, many Africans live out “Africa time” in a way that puts things in perspective. They make sure each appointment or order of business is filled with intentional relationship building. So long as a person feels free to speak, welcome as a friend, and comfortable in the present company, work/business/play can move forward as planned. Sometimes this desire to make one comfortable takes longer and is then reciprocated by the other. This process take time and rather than rush it or erase it all together, everyone would rather throw away the watch. In America we see punctuality as the sign of respect in relationships whereas Africans see spending time together, whenever starts, as the utmost goal.

In America, or at least my life for the last week, has been a constant GO. I’m running from this place to another, one meeting to another conversation to yet one more engagement. Part of that is my routine since coming back- a lot of catch up to do. But even in the midst of catching up, I sometimes forgot the joys of just talking to friends, enjoying a meal with others, absorbing the beauty around me. I’m much better since being in Africa, immersed in that world. Tasks that may have seemed so crucial just aren’t. Certainly not in comparison to relationships.

So I missed running. But I also miss walking. There’s a great paradox in this statement as I contemplate the need to run physically and mentally while at the same time needing to walk emotionally and spiritually. Maybe I’ll learn to jog.