Staying Fit, the Right Way

        There we were at a nearby park the other day, walking our dogs, when a staff writer with the Farragut Press asked if she might interview us.  She was working on a special section on fitness and wanted our thoughts on the subject.  "What made you choose a healthy lifestyle?" she inquired.  We both said (in different ways), we didn't really think about it.  It was just that having energetic dogs has demanded it.

        Had it been appropriate, we would have added much more, to-wit:  that we look to God for the health and energy we need to lead a super busy life.((I have plans to address this later here in our community.)

       Christ Jesus' life of service--his example of giving God the glory in everything he did and the reliance on God that characterized all he said and did and taught--have lifted my thinking to a higher, more spiritual level. To follow Jesus I too have needed to see God as the source and purpose of my activities.  The Bible invites us to learn of God as inexhaustible Spirit, which is never limited or depleted.  In Isaiah the prophet asks, "Hast thou not known?  hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?"

        When we come to realize that man is God's child, the very expression of Spirit, we begin to see a spiritual basis for maintaining health and vitality.  We begin to see that our real identity is not material; it is spiritual, because our creator is Spirit.  This spiritual selfhood is characterized by such God-derived qualities as energy, strength, and stamina.  It is refreshing to realize that our real nature already includes all these qualities, that we're not dependent on eating the right foods and getting enough physical exercise.  And knowing how natural it is for man to express the strength and dominion God imparts can take the strain out of the things we're called upon to do.

        Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:  "Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.  Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine 'powers that be.'"  (page 249)

        Yes, acknowledging God as the sole cause of action, ability, and endurance glorifies Him, and it does wonders for our whole life.