A Day of Rest

It is fitting that on a Sunday, I am experiencing a day of rest in my 2000 mile quest.  Some Sundays I have decided to run just to get the legs loosened up after a Saturday long (and often faster than necessary) run.  Other Sundays I have run to try to make sure my mileage stays up.  Finally, my Sunday running also depends on the other stuff going on.  And today the outside activity is taking my nine year old to an ice hockey game about an hour away.  And it is colder this morning.  So despite getting new shoes yesterday, I am taking today off and will break in the new shoes tomorrow.

The experience of getting new shoes was a very good one. I was thinking of trying a new running shoe store, but given when I was able to go yesterday and given the store's hours, I was not able to make it.  Since my old shoes had 650 miles of use and that is about the maximum I have been choosing to accept (more than the 500 maximum recommended by the manufacturer), I really needed new shoes.  In any case, I ended up at the same store at which I have bought at least my last eight pairs of running shoes.  The nice thing was that it really went with my pragmatic vision and spirituality.  Going back to the same place--the place where I had been a member of training groups from the summer of 2010 through the fall of 2011--is a bigger picture issue.  The vision was clearly communicating to the salesperson exactly what I was looking for.  More miles than last year and possibly faster.  And with that we tried on a new version of the same brand and model I had before and then a new model from the same manufacturer and three other shoes.  In the end, I made the smallest change possible--the new model of the same manufacturer.  The key is that it what the salesperson said (and I realize he could just be saying this afterwards) that the best move would be a small change with then the opportunity for a greater change later on.  The key is that the new pair has less support than the old pair.  And the other manufacturers' shoes had even less support.  So, we will see if the pragmatic small change leads to even greater change later on.  To go with my vision of being an even better runner.  (And a better person overall.)


So, since today is Sunday, it is a great day to share the information I have gathered about the church at the end of my virtual pilgrimage.  In a direct email from the archivist of the diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico.  To the left is a picture of the outside of the church.

So, I also received some information about the church in the same email.  Here it is.  It is quite extensive giving the history of the start and some relatively current information:

Our Lady of Perpetual Help wasn’t established until the town of Hot Springs was founded to serve the construction crews of Elephant Butte Dam.  Many small churches preceded it to serve the thriving mining and ranching communities of the last century and the first third of this one.  Mass was celebrated as early as 1916 in Hot Springs High School.  By 1921 construction had begun on a permanent church that now serves as the parish hall.  Over the years it was improved, and enlarged until it became the central church of the Catholics of Sierra County.  In 1939, Rev. Joseph Mueller, added a residence to the church and moved the administration of the Catholic church of the area from Monticello to his new rectory in Hot Springs. Following the Second World War the need for a parish hall was met by deciding to build a new church and converting the previous church into the parish hall.  With minor additions and improvements this second church has served the Catholics of the area well for over sixty years.  The present church building was dedicated on December 16, 1949.  In 1961, the house and property on the east side of the rectory were acquired so that the church owned the entire block. Rev. Art Roberts, C.S.B. arrived as pastor in July of 1994 and recommended a two-year study of the long-range needs of the parish.  The result was the transformation of the existing building.  Many problems presented themselves in the course of the renovation, but the final result is a joy to behold.  It is a fitting tribute to the previous generation that built the building and to the present generation who had the courage to invest in its future service to the area.  It is one of the finest buildings in Truth or Consequences and a credit to Catholics everywhere.

The history clearly shows the importance of serving others, serving a need that provides a vision for the area and for the economy, and the importance of growth over time.  I will ponder the history (and the history of the town) a bit more as time goes on.  But this is a great start to thinking about where I am "going".