Faith Wears Combat Boots?

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What is faith? How do I get faith? Wouldn’t it be nice if I could go down to the corner convenience store and purchase a quart jar of faith when my pantry reserves are running low? But wait, if faith were for sale, how much would I be willing to spend for an ounce of faith? Would an ounce of faith be enough to carry me through one dark night of the soul? Would a gallon of faith be enough to carry me safely through that illness that threatens my life or the life of a loved one? Can I stockpile or horde enough faith to stay the storms and stresses of this life which afflict and assail from every vector? Where does faith come from? Where does it take up its abode? Where does it go when I lose it? How does faith grow and can it be cultivated? Can I live a happy life without faith? Is faith real or is it simply a fairytale story we tell to assuage the fears of children and old people? In the days to come I would like to explore these questions and will share my musings regarding ‘faith’ via my blog posts. I hope you’ll join the conversation…

 

An Invitation to Revolution

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Definition: revolution (n.) a sudden, complete or marked change in something

Whether or not we like it, growth (physical, mental, social, spiritual) requires revolution; a change in direction or movement or thought. There can be no progress, no creative flow, no gains in health or fitness without change. It is notable too, that all of creation, both visible and invisible, is designed to thrive in the realm of change. The seasons and their regular permeations support the growth cycles of all living things in the seas and on the land. Our bodies are best nourished when we eat those foods that grow in season; a diet limited in variation is a diet destined to promote disease and ill health.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Socrates

In the realm of education, business, and fine arts, the finest programs mosaic curriculums across a spectrum of specialties and fields of concentration to promote students who are flexible in thought and process. A similar approach is used when designing a comprehensive exercise program. The best plans are those that integrate a mixture of activities that encourage the building of strength, cardio-respiratory endurance, flexibility, and balance into our physical bodies.

Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature’s delight. Marcus Aurelius

If change is so central to how the world turns, then why do we so resist it? Why do we insist on becoming set in our ways? If change is integral to growth, and growth is the essence of vitality, then surely we must revise our perspective on this inevitability or suffer stagnation and regression in every area of our life. If we have breath to breathe, then it’s not too late to adopt a positive mindset towards the changes we face in life.

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
Wayne Dyer

Simple things like choosing a new genre in regards to the types of books, movies and activities in which we engage can prime and supercharge us for new areas of learning and creativity. One thing is for certain in life, that change visits us all with alarming regularity. While some may say that all change is not necessary to growth, I would rather submit that all change is our invitation to choose growth and even perhaps a small revolution!

 

Absorbing and Reflecting – Part 2 – You Decide

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Two days ago I wrote about how an early morning run triggered some mindful introspection when I jogged into the sun’s warming rays and how my absorbing the warmth of the sun transported me to another place… mentally…and how my thoughts spilt over in every direction, just like the rays of the sun. Today as I revisit that run it occurs to me that the positive energy I enjoyed from that ‘warming moment’ was the result of my decision to engage those uplifting thoughts and ideas and make them my own even for those few fleeting moments. While I was exercising my body, I was also exercising my mind. Even now when I re-connect with those thoughts and ideas, I am warmed, I am encouraged, I am challenged…to become the very best that I can be…in my body and in my mind. Today I read a blog by Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology who specializes in Neuropsychology. She says that “our brains are designed to reflect the mind.” To me this means that if our mind absorbs (receives, learns, assimilates, understands, or latches onto) ideas and thoughts, then we will eventually reflect (project, imitate, emulate, repeat) these thoughts upon our brains; thereafter our brains respond to our thoughts and transfer our thoughts into our bodies. So, if our brains reflect our mind, which is always changing, then our brain is also capable of change or growth, which in scientific terms is called neuroplasticity. And if our brains can change by our mere choosing of thoughts, then it seems that we can ‘change our lives for the better’ one thought at a time. The choice is ours and ours alone ~ we simply decide ~ or not which thoughts to think.

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Absorbing and Reflecting

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The early rising sun quickly warmed by back and legs as I jogged up the winding town site road. The black running tights I wore readily absorbed the sun’s rays as the welcoming heat transferred its energy into my legs; my pace quickened; and my thoughts turned upward in thankfulness.

I pondered the effect this absorbing heat produced as it collected in my body and in my mind. How it triggered a cascade of thoughts for me to play with as my feet moved in sync with my breath. What else can I absorb throughout the day to cause my body, my mind, such a delightful quickening, such awareness? Can what I absorb also be reflected? If so, what am I reflecting?

Isn’t a reflection a mirroring of what is on the other side? If I absorb helping benefits from the sun’s rays, is it possible for me to reflect those same benefits in my life onto the life of another? If that’s possible, then the quality of those things I absorb should be carefully chosen. Those things I listen to, those thoughts I think about, those things I do are the reflections of what I have absorbed over the course of one day or many days, are they not? Doesn’t a true reflection simply mirror its own image? What do you think?

Our life is what our thoughts make it. Marcus Aurelius

Got Love? Is it Genuine or just a Second-Hand Emotion?

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy your loved ones today…and give yourself a hug too! Whether or not we feel it or believe it, our Creator is LOVE, and LOVE made all things in LOVE and for LOVE. And since we have been created in LOVE, we fulfill our destiny and purpose each and every day when we love the ONE who created us and when we love the OTHERS placed within our lives. Be careful then, how you live and how you love. Is your love life authentic? Or are you loving with the ebb and flow of your emotions? Not sure? Then you might want to review the definition of TRUE LOVE as defined by the AUTHOR of LOVE.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language)

Keep Love in Circulation

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It’s nearly Valentine’s Day and everywhere we look we are reminded to actively engage our loved ones; whether we buy flowers or candies or cards to express our love, wouldn’t the world be a happier place if we lived ‘in-love’ every day of the year? Is that even possible? I think so…but we have to make loving others our primary intention for every day. Here are some wise words from other’s which can help us to better live our lives in LOVE:

John 3:16 For God So Loved the World That He Gave…

No matter what your idea of heaven is ~ heaven on earth is about love ~ the biggest, most powerful, all-encompassing love you can imagine.
Marci Shimoff from Love for No Reason

For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.  Antoine de Saint-Exupry, 20th Century French writer and aviator

Love only grows in the world when we all share love. Love only grows by giving, by being broken and given like bread. We all only get more of the lives we want by giving away bits of the lives and love we have.  Ann Voskamp ~ The Way of Abundance

By its very design, the physical heart is made to give and to receive. It takes blood in from the body through one side and then pumps it out from the other, circulating it throughout the body. A healthy and open heart center does the same thing with love. It sends love out into the world and receives it in equal measure; it keeps love in circulation.  Marci Shimoff in Love for No Reason

Where there is love there is life. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

 

Forgiveness…A Repetition Worth Repeating

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This morning I was considering the fundamentals of strength training and how weight training plans are designed to build strength into our muscles and our physical body. Weight training jargon always uses ‘sets’ and ‘repetitions’ to describe how many times an exercise participant should lift, push or pull a given amount of weight to obtain the desired fitness outcome. In weight training, muscles can be trained for power, or strength or endurance. The amount of weight used and the number of sets and repetitions varies depending on the participant’s goal. For some unknown reason (maybe inspiration?) when I thought about how many sets and repetitions are required to build endurance in our muscles, I immediately thought about a question that St. Peter once asked Jesus: “How many times do I forgive my brother who has wronged me? Seven?” (Matthew 18:21-22). In weight training, seven times (or repetitions) is the range that a participant would use to build power in their muscles: fast, ballistic, scary big muscle power. In a sense, Peter was flexing his big, powerful ‘faith’ muscle by suggesting a forgiveness repetition of seven times. He knew it took a lot of strength to forgive the SAME person, for the same transgression, seven times in a row; but his forgiveness building goal was too short sighted. It was a short term goal that could not overcome a long term problem. Jesus wanted to teach Peter something about endurance, because that’s what a repetition range of seventy times seven will build! Those kinds of repetitions are designed to build stamina into our muscles, wherever those muscles are located, body or soul. Realize this: the weight required to build endurance is LIGHTER THAN the weight required to build strength or power. Forgiveness repetitions are meant to be light enough that you can forgive those who transgress against you many, many, many times throughout the days, weeks, and years of your life. Some heavy forgiveness repetitions are required in every life too, but overall, if we practice high repetitions we lay a foundation to build strength into our muscles as well. So the next time you flex and extend your muscles, think about how this translates into your relationships:
FLEXING = receiving forgiveness  ~  EXTENDING = giving forgiveness

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Rules! Rules! Rules!

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Who likes rules? Why do we need rules? What are they good for? Why do we like breaking them? Must we have so many rules? Are we, in this enlightened 21st century still in need of endless lists telling us what to do; where, when and how and why to do something? Have you noticed that no matter your profession or station in life…there are rules (either implied or written) to live by. No matter your age or stage, rules are everywhere erected. If you’re a driver of an automobile, there are rules that govern how you must move your vehicle about the streets. If you engage in sports, there are rules that guide your chosen game of play. If you are a writer, a teacher, a lawyer, an engineer, a scientist, a parent or a child, there are rules for you to behold and live by. If you are the least bit interested in having a healthy body, there are rules that tell you what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, and where to eat. And of course there are rules that tell us how much sleep and awake time we should take as well as how much movement (exercise) we should engage in compared to our non-moving activities. Rules….rules…rules…they are everywhere!
The sheer magnitude of rules must give evidence to the fact that they are necessary and helpful in guiding us how best to live; but honestly, if we believe that rules are so important, why do we take such fiendish delight in breaking them? Ah, this question does strike at the very core of human nature does it not? We crave rules! We want some thing, some one, some code to tell us what is right or what is best in regards to conducting our lives. As much as we like to have choices, we also want security in knowing that a certain decision or behavior is supported by others. As much as we push against rules, we really do seem to need them don’t we? Having rules to live by means that many people down through the ages have thought long and hard about what it takes to make living together in a society happy and safe; whether it be a team sport, or club, or business or? When we look at rule making from this perspective, having rules to live by really does provide us with a sense of security and safety…especially if we know and believe that those with whom we interact also value a shared set of rules. It seems to me that we love rules so much because they show us that we are capable of thinking, perceiving, and reflecting about what matters to us. If we were automatons without intellect, we would have no need for rules. Our existence would be ‘guided’ by lines of code written onto our hard drive memory banks.
So I guess rules aren’t so bad after all. Maybe we should learn to embrace the rules of life with a positive perspective rather than with disdain. Should we try never to break a rule? Probably not…but at least we can appreciate that they are in place to add to our happiness and not take away from it.

“People who play by the Rules seem to bring their luck with them, light up a room when they enter, have more enthusiasm for life, and cope better.”
Richard Templar, in The Rules of Life.

Rule Reading Fun:  The Runner’s Rule Book by Mark Remy
The Rules of Life by Richard Templar

 

Wonderfully Made

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If we were truly able to comprehend the spectacular, out of this world, design and craftsmanship of the human body, I am convinced that we would not so easily abuse, neglect and misuse our physical bodies. If scientists of every genre are still mining new understandings of the intricacies of the human body, its systems and organs, why then should I be surprised that I am amazed by the marvelous handicraft that I presently occupy? It boggles my mind…does it yours? The wonder of the synchronous harmonies of our flesh and bones?

When I consider these things, I am humbled; I am brought low; and I am grateful for the capacities of strength and endurance my physical body faithfully provides me every day; intuitively I know that its craftsmanship, its design, its beautiful form and function is meant to conjure such awe inspired feelings…not for myself, but for the One who thoughtfully knit me together. I want to remind myself today to be full of awe and gratitude for my physical body and what it allows me to do each and every day. I want to remind myself that I have been given this body, its capabilities for strength and endurance, not only for my needs, but in service to meet the needs of others. It is with these thoughts, these reasons, that I train my physical body every day. And when I do train, I think of these things, and I never cease to be amazed and inspired and grateful.

I thank you, High God–you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration–what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.  Psalm 139:14-15
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Work and Believe

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One spark of revelation, one creative flicker of intuition, one passing image of possibility. That’s all it takes to potentially move ourselves forward into a better place: physically, mentally, spiritually. We all have moments where an idea, or hope or inspiration springs upon our consciousness and invites us to embrace the vision as our reality. The only thing this revelation lacks now is muscle! Work! Movement! Action! It must be acted upon in order to become a reality. Newton’s first Law of Motion can be applied to our thought life: objects at rest, stay at rest; objects in motion, stay in motion unless acted upon by another force. So today if you have been inspired by a vision of possibility, don’t let your logic help you procrastinate. If you have seen the fleeting possibility, then work towards that today possibility today! Give yourself 10 minutes of real work on the vision. Is your inspiration a fitness goal, then get your body moving for 10 minutes. Is it a work related or creative goal, then do that one thing that you want to put off, and do it now! You can put the work aside after you’ve committed yourself to 10 minutes of purposeful attention. String enough days together of these 10 minute bouts of purposeful work and you’ll soon see your dream taking on form and dimension.

James 2:26 The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)