For the health of body, not the look of flesh
The last few weeks have seemed to pass by without intention or thought to mulitple common factors: eating, sleeping, conversations with Lindsay, my kids, and even the Lord (I am forever a Lutheran-sided Pietist). My lack of attention to daily turned toward a life-less crab, whereby persistence was more than difficult, presence with others was always absence, and ability to "get-up-and-go" on a daily basis was met with lethargy. This is neither who I am or desire to be, but for several weeks was caught towards living lifelessly.
Recognizing my imago CRABBY, I knew the answer to living lively; I returned to my desired practices of The Divine Hours, running (2.2 miles every other day), and turning off the laptop at least 30 minutes before bedtime (I am less able to accomplish the latter on a daily basis). These minor shifts have resulted in greater intention to life: eating, sleeping, and conversations with the church (specifically Harbert Community Church) and Lord.
I don't want to wade too far into the waters of how my body looks, yet since it was my whole body, flesh included, that was baptized, it is worth considering how the look of the vessel communicates the life of the body.... My eyes were sagging, my skin oily, and my demeanor sour. There was little on my outside to communicate the Easter season....the season of Practicing Resurrection.
I am turning to my health. This turn is not as an obsession with my flesh - losing weight, looking better, and fitting into my clothes - it is a desire to seek health of the body as a way of Practicing the Resurrection. To enact the gospel that calls us to love the world with our hands and feet. I am taking up the Hebrews charge and participating with God in "lifting your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."
In a world obsessed with health for the sake of appearance, I am hesitant to begin the journey, for as Paul Holmer has said, "deep down we are very superficial." And I want to engage health for the sake of the body (ecclesial terms implied), but also recognize how easy it is to turn away from the church and world toward the glorification of the self, namely through the transforming of the flesh (while ignoring the body). THe Eucharist, baptism, and the Word made flesh invites a life of health - for the sake of the body.
Recognizing my imago CRABBY, I knew the answer to living lively; I returned to my desired practices of The Divine Hours, running (2.2 miles every other day), and turning off the laptop at least 30 minutes before bedtime (I am less able to accomplish the latter on a daily basis). These minor shifts have resulted in greater intention to life: eating, sleeping, and conversations with the church (specifically Harbert Community Church) and Lord.
I don't want to wade too far into the waters of how my body looks, yet since it was my whole body, flesh included, that was baptized, it is worth considering how the look of the vessel communicates the life of the body.... My eyes were sagging, my skin oily, and my demeanor sour. There was little on my outside to communicate the Easter season....the season of Practicing Resurrection.
I am turning to my health. This turn is not as an obsession with my flesh - losing weight, looking better, and fitting into my clothes - it is a desire to seek health of the body as a way of Practicing the Resurrection. To enact the gospel that calls us to love the world with our hands and feet. I am taking up the Hebrews charge and participating with God in "lifting your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."
In a world obsessed with health for the sake of appearance, I am hesitant to begin the journey, for as Paul Holmer has said, "deep down we are very superficial." And I want to engage health for the sake of the body (ecclesial terms implied), but also recognize how easy it is to turn away from the church and world toward the glorification of the self, namely through the transforming of the flesh (while ignoring the body). THe Eucharist, baptism, and the Word made flesh invites a life of health - for the sake of the body.
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