Fullness of Life

When we go to the gym we begin the hour with 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. Essentially we shuffle along with arms flailing back and forth going absolutely nowhere. It is good for us of course, getting our heartrate up and burning calories. Still, we look along the row of machines and see the other lemmings earnestly labouring for fitness.

What a difference when we visited our friends last week in the "back of beyond." Each day we went out on our cross-country skis making our own trails. Same motion, different world. The sun on the snow and the long blue shadows of the trees were breath-takingly beautiful. We would stop to catch our breath at a fox den or to examine the tracery of deer tracks along the fence line. We saw the deer in the woods and a wolf on the hill beyond the fields. It stood and watched us, unconcerned, until we were quite close.

Ruth loves skiing and skating out of doors. We kept the river rink clean and while out there we saw otters and a beaver in the open water.

The gym is a necessity for fitness but time in creation reminds us of the fullness of the life God has given to all living things.