“Where does the power come to run the race?” Eric Liddell asks his audience of workers at a factory after winning a track race. Liddell is the Scottish son of a missionary, studying at Oxford, preparing for the Olympics in the 20s. Harold Abrams, a Jewish student at Cambridge is also preparing for this race of his lifetime. This question rings in the background of the movie, “Where does power come from?” One man is driven by ethnic pride and the help of an excellent trainer while the other by his conviction that he is using his God given talent to its ultimate. Most, if not all, of us will never run in the Olympics but we often draw in our breath and ponder – where will the power come from to do the task at hand?
Today’s world looks to money, to vaccines, to training, to fame but it seems to me that the question confronts us all. Where do I find power to live my life successfully – as defined by me, not by society? Liddell’s answer is that it comes from within, from the heart, from faith. Sunday we will see Jesus, after a busy day and evening of healing and casting out demons, arise and go to a lonely place to pray. What was that about? He was God wasn’t he? And yet we know he was man and was tempted in all ways we are. He understands our exhaustion, our confusion, and our questions. So perhaps he too needed to go to a lonely place to focus himself and “recharge his batteries.” I know I do. After a draining experience, I often sit in my chair, and close my eyes for ten minutes and relax.
So where does the power from come for you? How do you recharge your batteries after exhausting experiences or refocus after intense creativity? Again I offer you Isaiah 40: 31, “Those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Perhaps you will wait in silence and prayer, perhaps in quiet study, perhaps a cup of coffee with a friend or at a café, but however you recharge your batteries today, may you remember your power source, God. Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 