The Parable of the Foolish Runner

    A few weeks ago as I was getting ready for my morning run, when I checked my headlamp it was completely dead.  Huh, I thought, I guess I’ll do some stretches while it gets a quick charge and then hopes it lasts for the entire run.  So, I did that.  I left the house with a bright headlamp and quickly forgot that it had been running low at all.

    I usually get in my morning scripture study on gospel library audio during my morning exercise and this particular day I was listening to President Nelson’s recent talk from the Women’s Session.  As he was speaking about physical and spiritual preparedness, I thought of the COVID situation and how our family had done fairly well with preparedness and living through this pandemic. Not perfect by any means, but we’ve done okay.

    And then…shortly after the talk was over my light started to dim and in a matter of 5 minutes, I went from having a pretty bright light to no light at all.  It was still a while until sunrise and I was very much in the dark, 3 miles from home.  My goals and expectations for that run quickly changed from running it at a certain pace to not tripping, not getting hit by a car, and making it safely home.

    As I continued on my run I noticed things I never had before: how close together street lamps were, how lights from cars behind me were very helpful in being able to see, and how lights from cars coming towards me were at first almost blinding, but as my eyes adjusted that light was also helpful in being able to find my way.  I also found myself at times that there were no lights at all, and the only way to find my way in the darkness was to follow the big white line painted on the side of the road.

    As I ran, aside from thinking about how to get more light to see by I thought about the talk I had just listened to and the irony of thinking I was prepared, when in a very real way at that moment, I was not.  I also thought a lot about the parable of the 10 virgins.  5 were wise, 5 were foolish.  For the first time in my life, I took a much deeper look at the foolish virgins.  I was it!  I was the foolish one.  I was the one wandering in the dark with no light.

    How had this happened?  In my foolishness, I hadn’t checked my light the night before and I waited until the last minute to check my preparedness.  When I realized I wasn’t prepared, I quickly “prepared” and hoped it was enough, and foolishly thought it would be.  Then I found it wasn’t enough.  At that point I was desperate.  I went from borrowed light to borrowed light (street lamps, cars, etc.) hoping the light of others would be enough to get me safely home.  Had I met another runner with a headlamp I likely would have wanted to run along with them and have them share their light with me (like the oil with the wise virgins).  If there was a plug on a power pole somewhere I would have wanted to stop and take the time to plug in my light (buy from the market).  The other parallel I found was that I was very late getting home.  I half expected the door to be shut and to not be let in as the parable goes.  Luckily my home was open and I was able to enter and learn from this experience instead.

    I hope you can see the connections that I found.  I also found it interesting that the only way to get through in complete darkness was to follow a straight and narrow white line.  So, let's think together, are we really as prepared as we think we are, or naively going along on light that is “good enough”.  Are we chasing the light in the darkness, hoping to get enough from others to get by instead of preparing beforehand our own light so we can see clearly the path before us?  How do we prepare?  It’s the simple things: personal and family scripture study, prayers, attending our church meetings, tithing, fasting, serving others, fulfilling our callings, ministering to others, trusting in God, following the Holy Ghost.  These simple everyday things bring the light of Christ and the gospel into our lives so we can see brightly, even in the darkness.  We also have the opportunity to teach others how to bring light into their lives, but we can’t do it for them.  Running in the darkness on borrowed light is a scary thing and very unsafe.  At any moment we can take a wrong step and be down on the ground covered in road rash.  We need the light of the gospel to light the path before us so we can see clearly.  I urge you as the foolish runner to prepare now.  Don’t stumble around in the darkness.  Let the light of God light your life and path more and more as you turn to him and follow him.  Christ said, “….I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” - John 8:12.  Each day we can seek Him and find his light more in our lives.

- Originally written to the members of my church's women's group in Nov 2020.