By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
We needed the rain that turned Sunday into a soggy day not suitable for bicycle riding outdoors.
With determination, if not enthusiasm, I headed to the basement to ride my “indoor bike” (actually, an outdoor bike with the back wheel locked into place on a roller). Riding outdoors gives me the endorphin rush I have craved all of my adult life and satisfied with running, swimming and other physically exerting activities. Dread best describes my attitude when switching gears to ride my indoor bike.
Prayer remains a core component of my daily exercise routine. It is my time to commune with God, which I do best while in motion. Exercise combined with prayer creates a sense of synergy, of rhythm. I used to swim laps for a little more than an hour at a time without stopping. One time, another swimmer asked, “How many laps do you swim?” I said I didn’t know because I timed my swim to my prayers!
Admittedly, I get distracted on occasion but have learned to accept less than perfection in my prayer life. Praying with my husband Steve and our sons when they were growing up taught me that lesson well. We prayed faithfully every night but sometimes it felt a little like Mutiny on the Bounty, when one or the other son seized control.
My distraction accelerates when exercising indoors, perhaps because of the monotony of the “scenery,” the basement walls or the limited view of the great outdoors from the window. Sometimes I welcome the view of an oncoming train or the kids who live up the hill waiting for their school bus at the bottom of the hill. The large-screen TV in front of me grows as a temptation. I keep the remote next to me on a music stand where I keep a small towel, and my iPhone.
Steve advises me to just power through; resist the temptation to do what I don’t want to do and get the work of prayer and exercise done! Easier said than done. This past Sunday, however, I followed his advice, coupled with a commitment to focus on the subjects of my prayer rather than the tedium that often trips me up. By the end of the workout, I felt grateful, physically and spiritually.
A Franciscan Spirit Blog validates my experience. Karen Zielinski, OSF, writes “Christians have always been challenged to keep our bodies, ‘our temples of the Holy Spirit’ (see 1 Corinthians 6:19), in good order. Exercise can bring many physical and psychological benefits. When we add a layer of prayer, we can benefit spiritually,” she said in her essay titled “Holy, Wholly Healthy: Pumping Up with Prayer” (https://tinyurl.com/3phr5fn9). She continues, “It is a healthy call to be faithful stewards. Praying during our workouts can be a powerful blend of motor and faith skills.”
The opportunity to pedal and pray outdoors decreases with each passing day as autumn yields to winter. I’m still not looking forward to more indoor rides that test my ability to pedal and pray. But Paul reminds us, “Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one” (1Cor. 9:24).
(Contact Editor Barb Arland-Fye at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
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