Six Degrees of Bodybuilding

My husband and I use bodybuilding as a frequent analogy (he’s a CPA by day and a bodybuilder by night). We believe every work issue, relationship problem, emotional trouble, etc. can be linked to (and potentially solved by) some bodybuilding concept (if you look hard enough for the connections). Not unlike the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Recently, we were discussing how God is most often found in our daily pursuit, rather than in one-off mountaintop moments. God does reveal himself in huge, momentous ways. However, these big, sweeping experiences with the divine aren’t what characterize our spiritual journey.  The Christian life isn’t a one-time, momentary thing. It’s a consistent, repetitive, daily practice.

Just like bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding is monotonous. It’s a daily grind. From the food to the workout protocol. Consistency is key. Working the process is what produces the desired outcome. It’s a daily choice. It’s a dedicated practice.

Just like the Christian life.

The Christian life can also be monotonous. It’s a daily grind. Consistency is key. It’s a committed practice that we daily devote ourselves to. Amos Yong reminds us that “…it’s the regularized practice of devotional piety that cultivates spiritual openness and makes possible spiritual encounter.”[i] It’s the spiritual routines, rhythms, and practices that we engage in which prepare us to encounter the living God. It’s our everyday dedication, and posture of devotion, that opens us to God’s very self, to God’s revelation.

*This book is worth the read: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson. It has nothing to do with bodybuilding, but rather, the daily rhythms of the Christian life.

 [i] Amos Yong. Revelation: A Theological Commentary on the Bible. 2021, p. 36.

Funny Things My Students Write…

In my almost 9 years of teaching, I’ve graded hundreds (maybe thousands?) of papers. These are some one-liners that made me chuckle.

“In his times, Jesus was someone that many looked up to. King Herron was one of many that did not want Jesus to live, as he would become the new King.”

“The angel Gabriel lets Mary know that the Son of God will be the King of the Jewels, that he will be the savior of mankind.”

“His ministry of Christian life begins with his baptism in the countryside of Roman Judea and ends in Jerusalem, followed by the Last Super with his disciples.”

“The meaning of being a church is to learn and accept that by faith in Christ they partake in the death and resurrection of Christ and that they now lived as God’s children and hairs of God’s promise.”

“Temptations also come at a person’s weakest moment, much like Satan tempting Jesus in the forest.”

“Although a slave master could eat their slave, moral and cultural laws prevented the use of excessive force against them.”

“Esther was a female, Jewish, orphan, who God used to deliver his people from inhalation at the hand of Haman.”

”For me Jesus has many rolls.”

“Matthew describes Johns appearance as wearing clothing made from a Camels hair and wearing a leather belt eating lotuses.”

“I think that this reveals a huge deal of God’s character, specifically regarding those who have transcribed against them.”

“King Harold was great at taxation and execution.”

Homeless Encounter

Two months ago, while my husband and I were checking our PO Box, we saw a homeless man sleeping in the main hallway of the post office. It was night and it was cold, and I immediately felt/sensed/heard, “Go buy a blanket and bring it back to him.” I didn’t though. It was night and it was cold, and I wanted to return to my warm house without being inconvenienced. 

I felt: Disobedient. Disappointed.

Two weeks later, I sold my old espresso machine. As I was walking up to Starbucks to meet the buyer, I noticed a homeless man sitting in front of the store. I immediately felt/sensed/heard, “Give him the money. You don’t need it.” The buyer handed me the $40 and I walked past the homeless man to my car. I’m frugal, I felt like I’d worked hard for that money, and therefore, I didn’t share my spoils.

I felt: Disobedient. Disappointed.

After Starbucks, I headed to Costco to run errands. On the way there, I felt/sensed/heard, “Remember the homeless man in the post office? Buy a blanket at Costco and give it to a homeless person.” So, I bought a blanket and left it in my car.

I felt: Obedient. Victorious.

Two nights later, as I pulled into the parking lot at FPU’s North Fresno Center, I immediately felt/sensed/heard, “You’ll drive right by the post office on your way home from teaching. It’s going to be cold tonight. Stop and see if there’s a homeless man sleeping inside.” So, after class, I stopped at the post office, went in, and saw a homeless man sleeping. I went back to my car, got the blanket, and left it next to him.

I felt: Obedient. Victorious.

I believe that God allows us to revisit our failures; that he recreates moments for us to reflect and learn from our experiences. For our character development, but ultimately, for his glory.

My homeless encounter is one such example.

In the New Testament, the Greek word πειράζω (meaning tempt, test, try) is often used in adversarial contexts like when the devil tempts Jesus in the wilderness, when the Pharisees and Sadducees test Jesus regarding the interpretation of the Torah, when the early churches are tempted by the practices of the surrounding culture, or when God’s very character is on trial.

While πειράζω carries an antagonistic connotation, it can also mean “to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave.”[i] We see this in 2 Corinthians 13:5, where πειράζω is translated as examine.

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!” (NRSVUE)

In this verse (and chapter), Paul is calling out the Corinthian’s rebellious behavior via an exhortation to self-reflection. It’s equal parts admonition and invitation. Paul wants them to inspect their behaviors to see if they align with their professed faith; to determine whether their actions reflect the Jesus they claim to follow. It’s also a call to remember that Jesus lives in them and therefore they are capable of making right choices (unless they fail to examine themselves, or in examining themselves, realize they are not in the faith, and therefore Jesus does not live in them).

In both the chaos and comfort of life, we can easily delude ourselves into thinking we’re in the faith, when we’re not. If we don’t examine ourselves, we risk remaining blind to our spiritual incongruence—what we proclaim versus how we act (like my homeless encounter). Paul’s encouragement and admonition should resound just as loudly in our ears today as it did for the Corinthians. So too should his rhetorical question.

In moments of disobedience or rebelliousness (like my homeless encounter), God invites us to self-reflection. He encourages us to mine our souls, to discern our spiritual breaches, to access whether Jesus is truly in us. And, like my homeless encounter, I think this is why God allows us to revisit our rebellious or disobedient moments; why he asks us to revisit the “tests” we previously failed.  These tests are invitations to examine ourselves to see whether we’re genuine followers of Jesus or just cheap replicas.

 [i] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3985/kjv/tr/0-1/

*Caveat: this isn’t a thorough study of 2 Corinthians 13, namely the connection between examining and Paul’s authority as an apostle.

Deadheading Sin

Image taken from https://www.petalrepublic.com/zinnia-flower/

I’m an emerging green thumb (thanks to my mom and Aunt Beth who are truly experts, and of course Martha Stewart). Several years ago, I learned about deadheading—removing dead flower heads from a plant to encourage more blooming (Google.com). Essentially, you cut off what’s dead (and unnecessarily draining resources from the plant) to allow for new, vibrant growth.

Last summer and early fall, when I was deadheading the zinnias in our front yard, I thought, this is exactly why we need to remove sin from our lives.

I think we often conceive of sin as a list of do’s and don’ts; a set of standards that we try not to transgress. If our understanding of sin is this one dimensional, then we fail to grasp what it does in our lives and the detrimental impact it has on our relationships.

Sin is like a dead flower—it drains us, weighs us down, and detracts from the beauty of what our lives could be.

When we live in sin, our lives, and relationships, look dull and dried up. We lack vibrancy and our lives look, well, dead. Sin unnecessarily steals emotional and spiritual energy from us; resources which could be allocated toward our growth and flourishing. Sin mares the image of God that we’re made in (Genesis 1:27) and prevents us from living into the fullness that God intends for our lives and relationships.

If we want to thrive, we need to fastidiously prune sin. We need to cut out the dead, decaying parts of our lives to make room for new, beautiful growth. Only then will our lives reflect the fullness of who God designed us to be; only then will we fully live into his image (Genesis 1:27).

Aspen Community

Image taken from https://www.idtdna.com/pages/community/blog/post/clonal-colonies-in-the-forest

I was in Denver last weekend, celebrating my niece’s second birthday. While we were on a walk, my stepmom and my sister were discussing Aspen trees. I learned from their conversation that Aspen trees are communal organisms—they grow in pairs, groups, or groves to survive.

Upon hearing this, I said to my stepmom, “Could there be any better analogy for the human experience and our need for one another?”

I think not.

I’m not an arborist (which is why I didn’t know this fascinating tidbit about Aspens in the first place). Nor do I claim to be. However, what I learned is that Aspens have a rich underground system. Their roots are interconnected, and they share nutrients to help each other grow. They need each other to flourish and survive.

It’s the same for humans.

I always tell my early childhood development students, “We were born social—our brains are hardwired for social connection. Without plentiful human interaction, emotional connection, and social support, young children fail to thrive.”

It’s no different for adults.

Yet, many adults are currently failing to thrive due to loneliness.[i]  They’re planted in solitary environments (for a variety of reasons) and are experiencing the side effects—depression, anxiety, heart disease, substance abuse, and domestic violence.[ii] The very opposite of flourishing.

This loneliness epidemic[iii] predates the COVID epidemic. COVID merely brought it to light and reinforced what we already knew—for humans, relationships are king. Like Aspens, we are communal organisms. We need connection to survive. We need to root ourselves with others to flourish. Then, like Aspens, we’ll be hardy, resilient, and capable of growing in all environments and in all seasons.[iv]

*This Aspen analogy is rife with application. I might delve into it more in future posts.

[i] Richard Weissbourd, Milena Batanova, Virginia Lovison, and Eric Torres. “Loneliness in America How the Pandemic Has Deepened an Epidemic of Loneliness and What We Can Do About It” https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/reports/loneliness-in-america (2023, February)

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Hannah Featherman. “Tree Profile: Aspen – So Much More Than A Tree.” https://www.nationalforests.org/blog/tree-profile-aspen-so-much-more-than-a-tree (2023, February)