But, for a certain class of runners, there is no denying the spirituality of the long run.

There are no pews, steeples or chapels in this church.

It is a social movement complete with a hashtag.

While it lacks specific ties to Christianity, "the Church of the Long Run," as it is sometimes called, has become an important practice for Christians across denominations.

For a certain class of runners, there is no denying the spirituality of the long run.

Long runs, often done on weekends, have long been a mainstay of training programs from 5Ks to ultramarathons.

Athletes build endurance by going long as they work toward their race goal.

Yet for many, it often doubles as a spiritual experience featuring many aspects of prayer—a chance to quiet the mind, test personal limits and suffer on behalf of a mission.

"I often will be able to pray while I'm running because of that very peaceful experience of the very fluid moving of your body," said Sister Stephanie Baliga of Chicago, a member of the Franciscans of the Eucharist.

Sister Baliga raced for the University of Illinois and has since completed eight marathons.

"You live these experiences of runner's high and this experience with connecting to God through the natural world that you sometimes feel when running," she said.

"[It is] a very spiritual and strong experience."

Running alone can create an inner stillness, a prayerful, reflective experience different from playing team sports.

Running without music, and especially in nature, is an excellent way to connect with God, Sister Baliga said.

Running alone can create an inner stillness, a prayerful, reflective experience different from playing team sports.

The discipline required to train body and mind to run long mirrors the kind of training St. Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?

"Run in such a way as to get the prize.

"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.

"They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."

In Dalton, Ga., Grove Level Baptist Church brought running and the Bible together.

The church started a "Run For God" program, which paired 12 weeks of training for a local 5K with Bible study.

Gaye Coker enlisted with her husband Shannon in 2010.

The couple was struggling with their faith because of an ongoing family issue, she said. "The strength and endurance Shannon and I have gained through this Run for God journey is not only physical but a spiritual relationship," Ms. Coker said.

"We are healthier physically, yes, but more important we are healthier spiritually." Continue reading

• Image: Hawkes Bay Marathon

In order to identify with Christ's self-sacrifice, Christians often join in a symbolic fast, giving up certain foods such as meat or chocolate or even giving up certain practices.

In recent years, fasting from the internet or other forms of technology has become popular. Fasting from technology is encouraged by many religious leaders as the ideal way for individuals to reflect on their daily dependency on technology.

Sometimes called taking a "digital Sabbath," it refers to the Christian and Jewish practice, in which one day a week is set aside as sacred.

On such a day, secular practices such as using media are halted in order to help believers focus on God and their faith.

This is based on the premise that the best way to critically engage with technology is to unplug from it. It's a way to remember that true communication is unmediated by technology and grounded in being with one another in the "real world."

Unplugging from social media or limiting one's internet use for a set period such as during Lent can be helpful for some individuals.

My research, conducted over two decades, however, shows that some of core assumptions on which digital fasting is based on can be problematic or misguided.

Technology can, in fact, be good for religion. The question is, how do we engage with technology thoughtfully and actively?

Media and immoral values?

First, let's look at how religious groups interact and make decisions about new forms of media.

In my recent book, "Networked Theology," my coauthor Stephen Garner and I discuss how some religious communities believe the media primarily promote immoral values and frivolous entertainment.

Therefore, they insist interaction with media via digital devices should be controlled, just as is done during a digital fast. Continue reading

Sources

• The Conversation, article by Heidi A. Campbell, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University.
• Image: Salon

Clouds too are moving and between sea and sky, gulls teeter on outstretched wings, as though fearful of a crash-landing in all this wild energy.

We zip up our jackets and walk along the shore, moving sideways when an extra large wave reaches for our feet. The boisterous air is laden with salt spray and the occasional blob of foam. Our faces are alive with cold.

Days like this demand attention.

They shout God at us, reminding us that everything has been created through the Word made flesh.

Everything has been 'Christed' into being.

This includes us.

As we walk on, we're aware that nature will always have a sacred teaching for us if we can see it.

And if we can't see because our glasses are covered in spray, then the percussion of the wind, the crash of the waves, still speak.

Listen! they seem to say. Listen to the sound of God made manifest in creation.

Everything is a parable, says the wind.

Take off the lenses made for literal information, and look again at the waves. See how beautiful they are, translucent turquoise near the top, their peaks fringed with white. Some waves are big. Some are small.

No two are exactly the same.

They come into being and then they disappear, replaced by more waves.

Your relationship to God is the relationship of the waves to the ocean, says the wind.

You are mistaken if you imagine you are separate.

You look around and see other waves different from you, and you try to discover your identity by comparison with them.

You also look ahead and see how waves cease to exist. This makes you afraid.

You wonder what you can do to survive. Maybe you can get through the rocks, but then what will happen? What is on the other side?

Life is too short. Is there some way you can come back to where you are now?

If you identify with being a wave, you will always be anxious. Yes, you are a wave, but the wave is an extension of the ocean of God.

You are not the ocean but you are part of the ocean. You are created in glorious form, you grow, dance in the light and then return from whence you came. So you see?

No wave ever dies.

There is no death, no birth, only transformation.

Always you are one with the ocean, one with your loving God. That is your true identity.

We continue our walk.

There are other parables on the way home, trees bending in the wind, a dandelion growing through a crack in the pavement, a vine reaching for the light. But it is the parable of the ocean that we will take home with us.

Scaffolding is needed for major repairs and maintenance, such as replacing a roof, or painting a tall building. Sometimes, this scaffolding is then plastic-wrapped, to provide privacy, safety, and a weather-proof working environment.

Once work is completed the scaffolding is dismantled. Ladders, cherry pickers, or long poles are then used to effect minor repairs and on-going maintenance.

We are a building - Shekhinah, a temple of God. Well-designed. The intrinsic design and health of my temple will enable it to weather many storms. But it still needs regular upkeep … and sometimes a major overhaul.

How do I maintain the spiritual life of this temple?

There is an infinite variety of 'scaffolding' available to us on our spiritual journey. Sacraments. Prayer. Worship. Community. Retreat. Spiritual teaching and reading. Spiritual direction and companionship. The framework provided by different spiritualities, such as Marist, Benedictine, Franciscan, Ignatian. Silence.

Some of this scaffolding is designed for major events … initiation, marriage, ordination, death. It shapes us, moulds us, gifts us with grace … but then we take it down and allow that grace to become visible in our temple.

Sometimes we erect scaffolding and wrap it in plastic, to effect a major change. Entering a time of retreat or discernment, when we become especially attentive to the voice of the divine, is a time when we are particularly vulnerable. We need the protection and privacy that exclusion of the outside world offers. But then we strip away the scaffolding and the protective wrap, and slowly the metamorphosis that has taken place deep within, will become evident in our attitudes, our words, our actions.

There are many tools available to us to effect minor repairs and on-going maintenance. Communal worship and liturgy nourishes and sustains us. Reconciliation and conflict resolution repairs cracks and dents in our relationships with others and with God. A personal prayer discipline, unique to each of us as we seek to relate to the God-within and the God-without. Service to others … being the eyes and ears and feet and heart of God to others. Reflection on sacred scripture. Small group interactions.

Our institutional churches are also temples - literally and metaphorically. Well designed. Intrinsically good. But the scaffolding has been up for many years - and I wonder why it has not been taken down. Scaffolding in the guise of Vatican 2 enabled major renovations within the Catholic Church - a major transformation. But not only is this scaffolding being dismantled, many of the renovations have also been removed. A little counter-productive.

I wonder if ancient, ineffectual scaffolding is shoring up a crumbling edifice. Perhaps it is time for this scaffolding to be removed, and demolition experts invited in to remove all that is rotten. This is not a time for plastic-wrapping: everything must be done in plain view, open to inspection and inspiration.

Scaffolding is always a sign of hope; of new beginnings; of creativity and hard work; of attentiveness to what has been done, what needs to be done, and what needs to be protected. Scaffolding is always unique. It is shaped to the building and to the work that must be undertaken. Scaffolding can be used again and again but each time it will be different and will enable different work to be done. While scaffolding is designed to facilitate construction work and repairs, its primary purpose is ALWAYS the health and safety of those who use it.

Can we say that the scaffolding we use in our spiritual life is healthy - for us and for those who encounter us?

Can we say that the scaffolding our churches use is healthy - and considers first those who dwell within and those who are passers-by?

• Liz Pearce, a mother of three adult children, loves story, writing, and dollmaking www.heartfeltdolls.weebly.com