In the first half of the Twentieth Century, people considered the four-minute mile a runner’s absolute limit. Why, he might run it and die.
But by the early 1950s, several runners had set their sights on the four-minute barrier. And on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister shattered it. Then within weeks, John Landy beat Bannister’s time by two seconds. Eleven years later, even a high school student, Jim Ryun, ran the mile in less than four minutes.
This is Howard Butt Jr. of Laity Lodge. How many of life’s absolutes are fixed only in our heads? How many arbitrary limits keep us from setting new personal records? The next time you’re tempted to accept the status-quo, think of the four-minute mile and pick up the pace—in the high calling of our daily work.
“But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.”— 1 Corinthians 12:31
