Pastor's Message
January 2010 Spirit Steps
It was quiet, so very --- very quiet. The wind that had been howling for the last couple of days had died down the night before and now it was completely calm. The snow clung to the otherwise bare branches of the of the maple, oak, and elm trees accenting their dark outline against the snowy backdrop. The branches of the fir and pine trees hung low, weighed down by the heavy snow. It was the first real snow of the season. The storm of four days ago had dumped over a foot of heavy wet snow on the area. This was followed by high winds and temperatures plummeting to near zero degrees. Last evening, however, the wind die and now the temperature moderated to around 32 degrees under hazy blue skies. All in all, it was a spectacularly beautiful winter day. It was my first time out cross country skiing this season and conditions couldn’t have been more perfect. Temperature, snow conditions, scenery, quietness, all perfect. The only thing that wasn’t perfect was the physical shape that I was in. Over the last year I had let my exercise program slide and today as I skied up each small hill I was reminded of that fact. As I gasped for air, I vowed to myself to work on getting my body back into better physical shape. Today I had a difficult time motivating myself to get out and ski. Evan though I had been working on the computer for the last six hours I thought about all the work I still had to do and questioned the wisdom of taking time to ski. Now I was extremely glad that I had made the choice that I did; conditions for skiing couldn’t have been any more perfect.
It strikes me that how we deal with our spiritual condition is very similar to how we deal with our physical condition. Just as it is easy to allow ourselves to get busy with many things and ignore regular physical exercise; it is east to allow our busyness to keep us from regular spiritual exercise. And just as our as our bodies get out of shape, so do our spirits suffer. Like the beauty and perfection in the physical world there is an even greater beauty and perfection in the spiritual world. Like the beauty and perfection in the physical world that takes some physical conditioning to fully appreciate, so we need some spiritual “conditioning” to truly appreciate the spiritual perfection that is an integral part of our lives. Just as we need to discipline ourselves to take time to exercise our body, so do we need to discipline ourselves to take time to “exercise” our spirits.
As we begin a new year, may we resolve to take better care of both our bodies and our souls that we may have a greater appreciation for the physical and spiritual perfection in which we live. May we encourage and support each other as we struggle to live out this resolve.
May you have peace in the New Year!
Pastor Bob