Familiar Faces

Today as soon as I started running, I saw Gitika, and then on the other side of the street I saw Pidgeon. Then I saw Bob Barrett. I said to myself, "Since Bob is there, perhaps his wife is running behind him." I was right. O God, she was so far behind! Then I greeted her. As Bob was coming back to where I was, he shouted, "O Guru, it is so nice to see you!"
 
Then, after about two miles, somebody right behind me said, "Very good pace, very good pace!
 
I said to myself, "A joker!" and looked around. Whom did I see? It was the young black man who had stood third in our race on Sunday. He said, "You put on a very good race, and I enjoyed it very much." So I smiled at him. After two minutes he was still running ahead of me. Then, after three minutes, he was nowhere to be seen.
 
After about three miles I saw Karabi. As I continued running, I saw the young man returning. When he saw me, he raised his arms over his head, greeting me.
 
-27 April 1982 
  
 
 
[Source: "Familiar Faces" in Sri Chinmoy,  Run and Become, Become and Run, Part 10, Agni Press/Aum Publications, Jamaica, New York, 1983.]