What a Privilege

If you've ever run a race, you've likely seen supporters holding up signs as they cheer you on. Many of the signs are lighthearted and familiar: "Worst parade ever!" "Pain is just French for bread." "Therapy would have been easier." "All this for a banana?"

But at the TCS Toronto Marathon on Sunday, one spectator held up a sign that stood out: "What a privilege!" It was a simple message, but profound. In the middle of the exhaustion and effort, it may not have felt like a privilege to the runners. It probably felt like hard work, maybe even misery. This woman's sign highlighted a deeper truth: the privilege of having the strength and opportunity to run at all.

Running is a marvel. When you lace up your shoes and hit the pavement, nearly every system in your body works together. Over two hundred bones create the framework, while your muscles fire in perfect sequence to move you forward. Your heart doubles its workload, pumping oxygen-rich blood to hungry muscles. Your lungs shift from 12 breaths per minute at rest to as many as 50 during hard runs. Meanwhile, your brain orchestrates thousands of tiny adjustments to keep you balanced and efficient.

Your body releases adrenaline for energy, cortisol for endurance, and those wonderful endorphins that make running feel so good. Your energy systems cascade from immediate power bursts to sustainable fat-burning. When you overheat, sweat glands activate while blood rushes to your skin's surface to cool you down.

When you run regularly, your body changes. Your heart grows stronger. Your muscles adapt. Your bones strengthen. All of this happens without conscious thought, allowing you to simply enjoy the rhythm of feet meeting earth.

All of this happens largely without conscious effort, allowing you to focus on the simple rhythm of running. It's a beautiful reminder of how fearfully and wonderfully we're made, with each system working in perfect harmony to support something as simple and profound as putting one foot in front of the other. What a privilege indeed.

Our bodies are incredible. I spoke to a medical professional who helps people recover the ability to swallow. Swallowing is one of the most remarkably complex and precisely coordinated actions your body performs dozens of times each day, yet most of us never give it a second thought. What seems like a simple gulp actually involves over 50 muscles and six cranial nerves working in perfect harmony across multiple anatomical systems. What a privilege, and one we take for granted.

Much of life follows this pattern: intricate in design, reliable in function, noticeable only in malfunction. Our days overflow with countless gifts we easily overlook.
All of this is evidence of God's goodness. In the middle of running, parenting, working, pastoring, and living our ordinary lives, it is good to be reminded, "What a privilege!" God is so good in giving us so many gifts that we tend to overlook. Beyond the ordininess of simple things is the handiwork of a great God who deserves our praise.