Peaceful, Centered + Connected
I would like to let you in on a little something that seems a bit like a pebble skipping the surface of deep waters. It starts with insight into what has been transpiring lately as my feet hit the pavement.
Let me state what I hope becomes the obvious here. I’m talking about running, and I’m talking about more than running. So when you see the word marathon and are two breaths away from closing your inbox, please stick with me.
It seems letting you in on the backstory might be of service to where this is going.
In August of 2023, I started training for a marathon with no intention of actually running one. This may seem like a strange undertaking, but I’m no stranger to strange things.
During the pandemic, I was one of the 1.1 million people who bought a Peloton. You might be thinking, but Tia, a Peloton is a bike. Yes, true. But somewhere in that three-year time span, my 20-minute rides morphed into joining a virtual community on Facebook and more lengthy endurance riding. Then one day, something shifted, and that same small voice that had once whispered to me, “You’re supposed to go into ministry,” said clear as day, “Start running.”
I know. I know. Very Forrest Gump.
I don’t argue with that Voice as much as I used to, so my bargaining chip was to train for a marathon without running one. I figured committing to a training program would give me the accountability and structure I needed and fulfill the guidance of the Voice, and so I found a training program through the Peloton app and moved the bulk of my activity off the bike and out the door. I made it through about a third of the program, and what I learned is that a 45-minute run was kind of a sweet spot for me, and I just left it at that. Until I didn’t.
I got curious and put my cards back on the table. In November of 2024, I started the training program again, this time wagering a marathon sign-up if I didn’t miss a day of training by the time I reached the halfway mark of the program. The Voice had one request - keep it to yourself. Let your close friends and family in on it, of course, but this isn’t an endeavor for the likes of social media. This is mostly for you and Me.
In March of 2025, the Voice and I crossed the finish line of the LA Marathon while a handful of close friends and family cheered us on from virtual and actual sidelines.
Since then, I’ve been in conversation with the Voice about writing to you about this or sharing about it more broadly, and it is only now, after my second marathon last week in San Francisco, that I feel the time is right to do so.
As an avid meditator and avid runner, here are a few things I’ve experienced and learned as I dissolve in these two oceans.
- Marathon training weeks start with a rest day. You begin training for some of the longest runs of your life from a place of rest. A place of receptivity - not effort.
- There were days when I’d choose running over meditating. At first I felt guilty about this. Centering Prayer has been my daily practice for years. That guilt quickly dissolved when I was out for a run and heard the Voice say (yeah, that same voice that had me out there running), “Why are you feeling guilty? Can’t you sense that the stillness you experience in meditation is something you’re carrying with you as you move? Aren’t you aware of your access to it? Can’t you feel the silence here beneath the chatter of your own thoughts? Isn’t that a familiar feeling to a fleeting moment you’ve had before? Is there any meaning here between the solitudes of both activities that somehow is mysteriously connecting you to others?” Well played, Voice. Well played.
- Stillness, silence, and solitude are substances. They are not void and empty. They are Reality. They are wells we can draw from as we move.
- The final week of marathon training is the same plan as the first week. You’re back where you started, and yet you’re not the same. And so it is with the meditation seat.
- Want to know what's included on the list as part of the recovery plan for all your body endures after running a marathon? The tiny muscle tears, the mental euphoria and possible crash after things are over - you guessed it. Meditation.
With deep respect for your path.
Grace + Ease,
Tia
New Good Things
If you're new here - welcome! My friend, Jasmine Bellamy, invited me to join her podcast recently, and it might serve as a way for us to become better acquainted. I, in turn, would like to learn more about you as well! You can always reply to these emails and share a bit about yourself. I do read them!
Upcoming Gatherings
August 16th - The Human Condition, Healing and Softening
I will share on Thomas Keating’s Program for Happiness, Divine Therapy, and Welcoming Practice (virtually) thanks to Stillpoint. You can register here.
September 16th thru November - Tending the Inner Life of the Leader
I'm teaching a continuing education course, Tending the Inner Life of the Leader through The Seminary of the Southwest in September. It's virtual and open to all, although there is added benefit for bivocational clergy and lay leaders in the Iona Collaborative network of dioceses. Learn more here. Registration opens this month.
September 17th - 19th - Finding Faith, Meaning and Dignity in a Season of Contempt
I will be joining this year's The World Community for Christian Meditation's John Main Seminar at American University in Washington DC. This in-person event includes a virtual option. Learn more and register here. If attending in person reply and let me know. Maybe we will see each other?! Wouldn't that be a treat?
