When is church not in a church?

Do you go to church?  I don't.  Well, not really.  Not formal church as you know it.  Although, in my books I go to "church" twice a week.  It's just not what you think.

Why do people go to church?  There are a lot of reasons.  Community, support, faith, spirituality, connection... all very good reasons.  I don't go to a formal church for separate reasons.  There is structure, dogma, penalties, confession, sin...  all very negative aspects.  And for some people, a sense of superiority or entitlement ends up being the result.  I don't like that and so I don't go.  I get my kicks elsewhere: the Running Room.

Yep - a running store.  Strange to think that almost 4 years ago, I looked at the sign on the side of the road and  thought, "I should run."  So I signed up for a Learn to Run clinic.  What initially started out as a bid to lose weight and get out of work on time ended up being a major change in my life.

Besides exercise and health, I found mental health and support.  Friends that will laugh, cry, slap you on the back and give you a kick in the ass.  We don't know a lot about each other, but we know things that can be much more intimate.  I couldn't tell you a runner's profession or last name, but I can tell you their stresses or triumphs.  The lowest moments or the highest highs.  Watching them struggle through a brutal training run, or hugs and high-fives at a finish line.  There's nothing superficial about that and it makes me want to be a better person.  That's what church should do.

So the Running Room is my church.  Every Wednesday night and Sunday morning, I join in, lace up and hit the road.  It's cathartic and inspirational all at the same time.

So the next time you feel guilty for not making it to church recently, don't beat yourself up.  Look around - have you encouraged another person?  Have you just listened and supported someone?  Vented or just talked to another?  That counts.  Making the world a better place others as well as yourself really is the whole purpose behind religion in the first place, wasn't it?