Bruce Almighty*

I used to run with a local track club and genuinely loved the weekly long runs in the woods surrounding Walden, Flints Pond and Fairhaven Bay. Our leader, Bruce Bond, led just about every weekly run I can ever remember for well over a decade. I swear Bruce knew every single trail in these woods as well as exactly how long it would take to connect these various paths to bring us back to our starting point right on schedule. We typically ran for 90 minutes and nearly every weekend’s route was different – except for the fact that we would invariably return to the Walden parking lot within 60 to 90 seconds of the prescribed finish time. Bruce would vary the course not only for the sake of variety, but also to account for trail conditions such as mud in the spring, ice and snow in the winter and shade in the summer… often having to revise our route in the middle of the run, due to the conditions. Somehow Bruce could amend his mental calculations, consult the trail map seemingly tattooed to his cerebral cortex and still get us back home within seconds of the specified finish time. Over time, my friendship with Bruce grew – as did my love for running in the idyllic woods around Walden – and we went on to meet nearly every Thursday (and many a Tuesday) to run during the lunch hour for over fifteen years… until my hip needed to be replaced and a bunch of my other original equipment started to become less than reliable.

I fondly recall a particularly mild and sunny Valentine’s Day (quite unusual for mid-February in New England – and even more extraordinary that this absolutely gorgeous day would fall on a Saturday). I was so psyched to hit the woods for a nice long run – but everyone I called was either out of town or had plans. Finally, around 3pm, I gave up on finding a running partner and decided to drive to Walden by myself. Kathie reminded me that we had an early Valentine’s dinner reservation – and I was not to blow it! On the ride from our home in Watertown, I decided I could warm up, run one of my favorite ninety-minute trail runs, stretch, drive home and get showered and easily make our 6:30 reservation with at least 60 to 90 seconds to spare. There was only one problem: of the hundreds of trail runs I had done at Walden (and the dozens of times I have run this particular course), I was always with Bruce – and quite honestly I rarely paid much attention to where I was going, when he was leading. Out the back of the Walden parking lot, up Pine Hill, past Sandy Pond and into Codman Forest went great: the flawless weather and my proclivity for pushing the tempo when I run alone had me working up a pretty good sweat. This was turning into one of those really memorable runs. I remembered that to get to the “Three Friends Trail” I should keep the stone wall of “Stone Wall Trail” on my left side and… why the heck is this the third time I have run by this stupid stone wall that I have religiously kept on my left side!?!?! Then, after a couple more miles with nary a stone wall in sight, I had the realization that I don’t ever recall seeing a train station when I was with Bruce. By now I’m getting pretty tired, my pace is starting to slow and… how in the world am I running by this stupid train station again?!?!? And, despite the fact that we are in the middle of winter, it certainly seems like it’s getting dark awfully early.

Well, to make a long story not painfully longer, I did finally make it back to my car. However, my ninety-minute run turned into two hours and forty-five minutes, and I was completely spent! For those of you who are good at math, I clearly did not make it home with those extra 60 to 90 seconds to spare. No, we did not make our reservation. Yes, Kathie was a tad bit cross. And no, suffice it say, our first born male child was not born nine months after this particular Valentine’s Day.

Too often, my life is much like the Sunny Valentine’s Day story. While I have made a habit of trusting God, often times I take Him for granted and neglect to pay attention. And despite His guidance and the fact that I truly love the path on which He accompanies me and has set before me, there are times when I go off on my own and really screw things up. And yes, regretfully there are times when I keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Left to my own devices, my choices can result in darkness and I can no longer find my way on my own. But despite all of my failings, and no matter how often I disappoint God, He has not and He will not desert me.

During Lent, I believe it is important to reflect on those times in our lives when we go off on our own and become lost. But more importantly, Lent is a great time to pay attention to the guidance he has given us and to delight in his direction. And finally, as an Easter people, let us rejoice in the fact that God never gives up trying to lead us back to the right path!

-Brad Stayton

[*Author’s note: yes, the title ‘Bruce Almighty’ is a rip-off of a 2003 film of the same name]