I always find it interesting how words enter modern usage and start to become a metaphor for something else. Actually we banned the word 'hate' in out house when the children were little along with 'nice' for similar reasons, some words just come too easy and no longer relay their real meaning.
Back to Marmite, as a kid I used to love it and although we don't have any in our cupboard at the moment I could still be persuaded to smear a piece of warm buttered toast with it and devour. I love it. Nowadays to say something 'is like Marmite' is a way of saying that it polarises, dividing opinion, bringing about an extreme division with no middle ground- you either love it or hate it.
Today as I ran for 9 miles with 5 others from the running group I
hated loathed it. Every step of the last four miles was agonising and I so wanted to stop and start walking, the reason I kept running was twofold: firstly I had decided to run nine miles, for me running is a mental discipline as much as anything else. One of the writers of the New Testament talks of 'running the race with perseverance', the idea is that when you set your mind to something your body follows, that might even be a definition of discipline! I like this idea, not only in my spiritual life but also in my work, relationships and of course running. This idea of persevering gives purpose and builds stamina, but, as I found this morning, these benefits do not come cheap - running is hard, at least for me, and it was particularly hard today. That was the first reason I kept going, the second was the encouragement of those who ran with me, I have mentioned this before but it is important. An encouraging word goes a long way and my fellow runners all encouraged me this morning. They too had set out to run and together we did what we said we were going to do. Maybe it is this side of running that keeps me going, the discipline and the companionship, not to mention the feeling of well-being and fitness benefits.
I think it is fair to say that some of my most cherished memories have connections with running, the marathon last year, the trek across Dartmoor with Sharon and now belonging to Cornerstone Runners Cranbrook. It is something that I find so hard, often overwhelmingly so sometimes, yet it is also something I find something transcendent, inexplicable and eminently worthwhile.
The funny thing is that I have realised that I actually
hate loathe and love running at the same time; something of a paradox and, in that respect, unlike Marmite - but true nonetheless.
