Wednesday, May 15, 2019

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Philippians 1:20, New Revised Standard Version) 

                I am discovering – much to my regret – that I seem to have acquired a “super-power” in my retirement years.

                I can pass within two or three feet of a table or a counter and my magnetic (?) personality will knock something off the afore-mentioned table or counter. Cutlery are the bane of my existence but just about anything might – mysteriously, I must add – take a flyer. I refuse to believe that my elbows or my arms or my hips or my feet which can suddenly get entangled by sneaky, predatory plastic bags or any part of my body has become so clumsy that I awkwardly and accidently brush something off to the floor.

I take this very personally whenever it happens, with loud and impolite language. Just when I am sure that I have firmly placed that full glass on the end table, some mysterious power comes along and immediately knocks it off.

I am like a cat. Cats are known for deliberately knocking things off tables and counters. It is said that if the world was really flat, cats would have knocked everything off the edge by now.

Sadly, I am coming to the realization that if my body is like a temple, the roof is leaking, the basement is flooded and the fuel bill is past due. I don’t need a Fit-bit to tell me how my heart rate is doing or how many steps I have walked or my sleeping patterns. My arthritic shoulders and other sore joints keep me very well-informed. I don’t need to send my spit into Ancestry.com to tell me that my forebears were prone to scurvy, halitosis or hang-nails. I know that I am overweight, drink too much and don’t exercise enough. It is a good day just to get up every morning and greet the day!

But darn it, I aim to die happy.

The apostle Paul uses a lot of body language to express his theology of humanity. For example, his use of the word “flesh” indicates our mortal, physical, corruptible, tangible existence – the flesh and blood of everyday living and being. By and large, he is not too complimentary about the topic. “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot…, (Romans 8:7, NRSV)

Our physical bodies including our minds and thoughts are vulnerable to clumsiness, awkwardness, ineptness, summed up as sinfulness when it comes to the choices we make, the ways we behave and the lives we lead. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5, NRSV)

                Body-shaming aside,  Paul also accepts that it is incumbent upon him  to make the most and the best of the physical side of his life. Christ will be exalted in  his body, he wrote. “And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.” (New Living Translation) He reminds us that our bodies do not just belong to us alone but are imprinted by God’s love and grace. Afterall we have been created in God’s image, “for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”  (1 Cor. 6:20, NLT)

                What is important is that you and I demonstrate that as long as we walk this planet, we make the effort to be Christ-like in all that we do. We may trip over ourselves every once in a while, but we get back up and keep on moving in the right direction, our eye on the prize at the end of the journey. As we are able, we continue to walk the walk, talk the talk and live our whole lives, mind, body and spirit, for satisfying, meaningful and purposeful lives and to make God proud!

                Now, if I just could find my walker…

Dale