Physical & Spiritual Trim

So many things I'd like to say "right at the start," but I don't know which ones to actually start with.

• Nothing I can do makes me more (or less) a child of my heavenly father.
• It is possible for me to be more spiritually healthy than I currently am, and the converse is true.

Today is a Sunday morning, Happy Sunday!  I woke up this morning wanting to know how my friends and family are doing in regards to keeping their spiritual fitness.  It's not that I'm worried, but I know that it's easier to keep physically fit when there are classes to go to and a gym routine that people can ... go to.  In this time of COVID-19 stay-at-home, people aren't going to gyms or yoga classes, and they're not herding their families out the door to go to church, either.

I remember a comedian from my youth saying "You are what you eat.  You know, if you eat fat, greasy food, you'll grow to be a fat, greasy dude."  And obviously that's partly true--what you become is in some ways dictated by what you INTAKE.

This is Chris Hemsworth, the Marvel superhero Thor.  Photo on right is from Endgame, where Thor has let himeself "go to seed."

So, what are you doing to stay spiritually fit?  And part of that answer is going to be what you are taking in.

My answers to the question include:

• I'm reading a book that I recommended to a teenager who is prepping to go to the middle east in ministry.  He contacted me recently and asked if there were any ONE book to recommend that he read, what would it be.  I was glad to buy a copy of Ignite for him, and now we're keeping pace with each other as we read through it.
• I'm listening to Tim Mackie's My Strange Bible podcast and really enjoying it.  I had to listen twice to his Hell/Heaven 4-part series from 2017 because it presents a Biblical view so different from the imagery used in the evangelical mainstream.  If it's heresy, it's good heresy.
• When we sit down to watch a superhero movie or British baking TV show (junkfood for the brain), we try to give ourselves something useful to watch, too.  Like the Bible Project videos, for example, but there are lots of options for something quick to watch that lifts our minds and spirits.

Hey, it's not just about what you're taking in that makes you trim or not.  The muscle-bound Thor doesn't get that physique by eating right alone.  What also matters is what you're DOING with faith.  But that's going to have to be another blog post.  For now, what are you taking in that helps you keep spiritually fit?

Gritty Reality

People tell us to face reality.  Admit that all is lost, meaningless, and despairing.

Question:
Is the Miley Cyrus of age 23 more real than the Hannah Montana of age 13?  If innocence is restored to her in her 30s, will her gritty stage have been the "most real" version of her?

I don't know the first thing about the condition of her soul, but just work with me as to exterior appearances for a minute.  There are those who will tell you that departure from innocence is prerequisite to facing reality.  

I'd go square opposite to that, though, and without blushing.  I believe that we were intended for innocence and when we become more innocent we are returning to appropriate reality.  That the grit and despair is actually not the deeper magic, but a lie that is fed to us by an enemy of our souls.

  

https://godreports.com/2018/01/god-smacked-rapper-nf-in-the-face-revealed-himself-through-creation/

Staring at a polluted puddle doesn't tell you more about the water cycle than cupping your hands at a glacial snowbank.  Grit and despair doesn't indicate that you're looking at a life more REAL.  

Life is good. God is real (not made more so by my affirming it).  Grit is a pollutant.  Despair is less true than hope, not the other way 'round.