Running for God as a Dialogue between Self and Soul

Abstract

This study is about the physical and spiritual aspects of running. In addition to the human physical activity of running, there is a special reference to God-consciousness. Although the paper reflects an African, Christian, psychological bias, from an interfaith perspective, it concerns a simple, natural, human activity, within a broader energetic field of consciousness, which is usually and simply referred to as Love. The deliberate choice of the broad generic terms, God, or Godhead, is intended to include such terms as Allah, Brahman, Tao, Spirit, Divine, etc. While the terms “self” and “soul” may be used in different ways by various wisdom, spiritual and religious traditions, here they essentially refer to the interior, social and spiritual dimensions of human relationships. The study adopts a phenomenological, psychological, and biographical methodology with special reference to the spirituality of running as experienced by participants and reported by the heroic figures of Allyson Felix, Eliud Kipchoge, and Teilhard de Chardin, respectively. Its humble intention is to inspire all concerning the benefits of physical activity in general and running in particular, for physical, mental, social, and spiritual health promotion.