Ministry is a fairly sedentary profession, with lots of sitting and a fair amount of eating, if all the cakes and cookies offered during visits are consumed. My way of counteracting all this is exercise, including regular trips to the gym. I have noted to my "partner in crime," wife Ruth, that it seems that going to the gym is a form of church for some people. In fact, many of the parishioners go more regularly than they might ever consider attending worship, and lots of folk visit with their neighbours while allegedly working out. They tend to hang around the machine I want to use, but that is a topic for another sermon! Hey, there is even an exercise called preacher's curls. So when the man who may have been the original fitness guru died last week it didn't surprise me that an article soon followed in the New York Times looking at the evangelical tone of his enterprise. Jack Lalane opened his first gym in the early 1930's, long before the mainstream gym movement which began in the 1970's. He performed all kinds of crazy feats of strength and in later life he grinned away on TV, promoting his blender/juicer. He always looked the picture of health and he lived to age 96, proving that something was working.
Lalane also compared himself to Billy Graham, the venerable Christian evangelist, who happens to be 92...so something is working for him as well! The comparison was that Lalane too was spreading the good news, although of the benefits of physical activity and healthy eating. The magazine cover above was published around the same time Graham was at the height of his evangelistic popularity. Of course Jack is now gone. None of us lives forever, at least not in this life. Billy is at peace with the prospect of eternity.
What is the healthy balance of body, mind and spirit? Is Christianity just promoting "pie in the sky?" Maybe that should be "veggie smoothie in the sky." Is the fitness movement diverting us from the "soul work" we all need to do and the prospect of eternity? What's the difference between good news and the Good News?
4 comments:
I think the aboriginal culture and teachings offer a lot in how to live a healthy lifestyle.
The number "four" is important in their culture. There are the four elements - water, air, fire, earth. There are the four seasons. But there is also the Medicine Wheel which is basically a cross within a circle.
The four parts to the wheel are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Aboriginal culture believes that one is only healthy when all four of those are addressed.
When I am feeling down, I look at where I am in the Medicine Wheel, and what parts I can improve upon. I often look at ways I can improve on all four.
Of late, I have seen Rev. David more often at the gym than at church. Good news for him; jury's still out on me.
Having said that, this Sunday will mark four weeks in row I've attended, so maybe I am beginning to strike the right balance!
I like what johnny had to say about aboriginal culture and the ideas on balance contained in his posting. I'd like to think if you can keep mind, body and spirit healthy, stimulated and in balance, there's no reason you couldn't last as long as Lalane.
I'm with both of you on balance. When I was away at my conference I was sitting on a pew for six hours a day. This is not balanced! Between the pews and the cramped airline seats I was a mess by the time I got home.
Getting back to the gym and outside has set me right. I know that both of you are downright religious in your physical commitment AND you are churchgoers. Nice going!
I still hope there is pie in the sky. I don't dig the smoothie. I can't do the gym. Something about work for the sake of working.
I like working out doors, or playing sports. Get exercise, and accomplish something immediately as well.
Am I in balance? Not at this time of year. Summer is better.
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