Team Hoyt

I saw them for just a split second on the TV yesterday. The Boston Marathon was beginning (a few minutes late) with the wheel chair racers. These elite athletes were lined up in their amazingly futuristic-looking racing chairs, ready to begin the marathon with that initial downhill stretch from Hopkinton (they would pay for that later at the famous Heart Break Hill stretch). When the gun sounded and they rocketed off the starting line, I got a quick glimpse of them. There they were...father and son...Team Hoyt. Together.

Team Hoyt consists of Dick Hoyt (the father) and Rick Hoyt (the son). Due to complications at birth, Rick is confined to a wheel chair and communicates through a specially designed computer system. As a teen, he used that computer to tell his Dad that he wanted to compete in an upcoming road race. Dick, who was not a runner at the time, just couldn't say no to his son, so he became one. And since that first race, Team Hoyt has run marathons, done triathalons (Rick uses an inflatable boat for the water stretch and has a special front-mounted seat on a custom built bike), and even trekked 3,700 miles across the United States. Dick runs behind the wheel chair, pushing Rick. But do not be fooled. They both compete. It has been said that Dick is the body and Rick is the heart. Neither could compete without the other. Neither would compete without the other. They are truly Team Hoyt.

Over the last couple of weeks here at church we have been reflecting on the passage of scripture found in Hebrews 12, which reminds us that we run this race of faith, not alone, but with a "great cloud of witnesses" encouraging and spurring us forward. The Church is our Team. We do not run alone. So what a great joy it was this past Sunday to spend time in prayer for a woman from our church who ran the marathon yesterday as a part of the Dana Farber Cancer Research Patient Partner Team. She ran on behalf of her friend and student, 10 year old Lexie, who has a brain tumor. Lexie was with us on Sunday too, and we prayed for her as well. There we were, the Church, acting as a "great cloud of witnesses", praying for and encouraging one of our own, as she prepared to run for another, and praying for a new friend, whose example of faith inspired us all.

The body and the heart, supported by the Church. Together. A team. It was a beautiful thing.