My "City" of Ruins

There is a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door's thrown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins

Now with these hands,
I pray Lord
With these hands,
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands,
I pray for the faith, Lord
We pray for your love, Lord
We pray for the lost, Lord
We pray for this world, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord

Come on
Come on, rise up

Bruce Springsteen, My City of Ruins

3:44:45, a personal best marathon in New Jersey on my 25th marathon! I wanted to be happy about it but it seemed so trivial, certainly not diminishing all of the hard work that all of the other marathoners put in to get to the finish line.

If you wonder how I come up with ideas for my blog entries, the ideas present themselves through song and then I relate that song to both running and life. I never used to listen to music on the run and I still take a break from it sometimes but I now realize that I can find deeper meaning in music and in life by listening and relating.

Bruce supposedly wrote My City of Ruins about Asbury Park after it crumbled and tumbled from its heyday. However, I also think he wrote it about life and the struggles that people go through where they feel like their “life” is in ruins. While I was listening, I thought about how many people felt that their “life” was in ruins; families of soldiers who have died in war, the innocent people of Iraq and Darfur just trying to live another day, families and friends of those massacred at VT, those in Kansas who saw their town completely decimated. All of us at some point in our lives see our “city” of ruins to one extent or another. It doesn’t have to be so extreme but if we feel like it is in ruins, then it is so. What Bruce also wrote about was his faith in the Lord and his prayer for the strength to rise up beyond the “city” of ruins not only beyond our own “city” but for the “cities” around the world – the people of this world who feel that their “city” is in ruins.

At some point during a marathon, we also feel as if we are in ruins, that we can’t continue, the physical and mental pain so great that it might be easier to give up. At that point, we draw upon the strength of the Lord to help us through and to help those around us through. I always ask God to take all of the strength from me in the marathon and give it to those in need – those who feel that their “city” is in ruins – to totally exhaust me and expend all of the energy from my body and mind and give it to someone who needs it most or can use it at that very point in time – someone not in the marathon but someone who needs strength in life. The beauty of the marathon is that it leaves you totally exhausted and spent physically and mentally. To me, that feeling is God taking the strength from me and giving it to someone else in need. It is one reason why I run marathons.