You Found Me

I had a running experience Saturday that was indescribable.  No matter how I put it down on paper or words, I won’t be able to do it justice.  While seeking a safe place to run in unfamiliar territory, I came upon a park and decided it would do.  It more than sufficed.  It unexpectedly fed my soul in ways I had never experienced.  It was beautiful, and surreal, and every step felt like magic.

I was alone in this park on this grey misty Saturday morning.  The first thing I noticed was the newly seeded neon green blades of grass.  I had never seen that color in nature.  Almost immediately I knew this run was different.  I thought “This is God.  God is here with me.  This, this place, this moment, THIS is my God.”  A robin landed in my path in the distance, directly facing me, chest puffed out, and that bird stared me down, not moving until I was five strides from it.  I ran on a wet, slippery wooden bridge over a river, and into a path called “Amy’s Walk”—my name.  You can bet I RAN that path.  I noticed a trail off the paved path and turned down it.  It turned into a clearing in the woods, a large field of grass surrounded by tall trees.   I stopped running, pulled out my ear buds to hear the birds singing, breathed in the cool, wet air, and just stood there staring up at the overcast sky, feeling this moment.  It was absolute magic.

I am not a tree hugger.  I do not believe in the God represented in the Bible.  I do believe in a higher power, a God, just not the traditional form I was taught in Sunday school.  I can’t describe this moment, but maybe spirituality isn’t meant to be explained, just felt and embraced.  It was a run that I won’t soon forget—running into God isn’t something that happens to me every day.

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, The Fray, You Found Me.