Healthy Lifestyles

So my old roommate and I had a chance to connect as he was in town last week and, as usual, we had a series of deeply profound conversations about the Church, and how there are some deep changes needed in how we view our Faith.

Bits and pieces of the conversation will surely show up in future posts as they’ve been revolving in my head ever since, but in a follow up email he mentioned something I found surprisingly insightful.

We had been talking about how changing the Church was the wrong approach, rather we should change people who will in turn change the Church. We then started discussing what these “changed people” would be like. (We love constructing hypotheticals.)

One of the characteristics he suggested was that of healthier lifestyles (eating, exercise, rest, etc.) as an act of worship and/or submission. The more I thought about it the more it made sense to me. Not only as an act of honoring the body God created for each of us, but as a way to better prepare for ministry.

I was playing tag with a couple students on a playground the other day because we had arrived an hour early for a BBQ. We played for 45 minutes and it was some of the most fun I’ve had in a long while (partly because it is awesome to see an 11th and 12th grader running around like grade-school aged kids). But for the rest of the night I was winded and felt ill.

I am a night owl, and often don’t get enough rest. Leaving me tired and groggy when students ask me questions on a Sunday morning.

I am just coming to terms with the fact that I have a desk job, and that even though I spend 6 days at camp running around, that doesn’t cancel out 6 weeks of sitting at a computer getting ready for it.

Basically, I was able to immediately come up with many reasons why it isn’t good that I have been neglecting my health, and I think I need to do something about it. Not because I need a rockin’ bod (I waved goodbye to that a long time ago), but because I am lest effective at ministry because of my low energy level and unrest about being less healthy than any other point in my life.

I don’t know what I’m going to do about it yet. I’m smart enough to know that the temporary plans don’t work (I’m looking at you, Slim-Fast), but the gradual changes are always far more difficult.

Hmm… I wonder if there’s an illustration in that?

----

PS> Step 1 in my plan is to try and implement these 25 Healthy Living Tips.