What Great Design!
Over the past few weeks I've seen five medical specialists.
This is just part of getting older, and some might say, also from having lived
life a little faster than would have been wise. Happily all the doctors were
very positive about my wellbeing and immediate future; the bones guy even said
that I was "going great"! This helps me to continue to do the things
that I am doing right, like eating well and not too too much, exercising and
keeping my head busy.
As I received each of these good reports I would wonder at
my old worn body and think about Jesus: "I
praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are
marvelous, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:14).
What great design! What fabulous engineering! And it's (largely)
self-maintaining, (largely) self-repairing. Our bodies can convert countless
kinds of delicious foods into fuel, and we can even (help) make the next
generation of our families!
Hang Out
Sedentary things are easy; reading is a joy, studying is a
vital part of life, and I enjoy music and movies and TV and hanging out with
people.
Get About
I can get about: I walk a lot for housework and
getting-on-with-life. The last time I ran for a bus was my last run, thank you.
But riding a bike is fun and I can drive cars, busses, trucks and tractors, without prescription glasses!
Sport
Most sport is past tense for me: overnight hikes, sailing,
basketball and tennis. But I can still row a machine at the gym and hike in the
bush for an hour or two, and I love to walk in our local community pool or along the sea shore.
Work:
Now that I'm a househusband work is quieter, thankfully I'm still a handyman. But no more
battling through committee meetings, preparing complex designs or reports or managing staff. No more operating huge mining machines or laying kilometres of
farm fencing. In my twenties I spent time in a factory manufacturing farm fencing; one afternoon I put my back out, my
boss noticed that my machine was not making its hard-at-work sound so
investigated. There I was on the ground curled into a tight ball, completely
unable to move. One of my workmates backed his station wagon into the factory
and four guys picked me up, just as I was, slid me into the back of the wagon
and took me to the hospital. The doctors said they couldn't do much, I had to
rest and progress through my physio, but after a few weeks I was back at work
(almost) as good as new. Talk about great design and engineering - our bodies
truly are "fearfully and wonderfully
made"! Another time I was in a car crash, they did a good (and
expensive) job fixing the car but it was never the same again and I was happy
to sell it. But my amazing body, I'm so very glad and grateful to still live in
it.
"For no one ever
hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the
church" (Ephesians 5:29).
Love:
"God is
love" (1 John 4:8, 4:16), and because we are made in the "image" and "likeness" of God (Genesis
1:26), who is Elohim, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are made for love and
family and for relationship. Praise Jesus that I still have the strength and
energy to be family with my family, and to share in so many relationships
.. this adds a great beauty to life. "Love" is a "doing
word", a verb. It takes effort and often sacrifice to love. Scripture tells
us: "Husbands, love your wives, just
as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians
5:25), so I do ..
Love comes in many forms and it is good to know how to be in different relationships. Trish and
I agree that marriage is hard work but extremely rewarding, after 38 years our
love, and our relationship are still
growing. I believe that this is as close as we humans can get to the uniquely intimate
and caring relationship between our Abba Father God, our Saviour Jesus, His
Son, and our Comforter and Counsellor, Holy Spirit; these are three persons yet
one God.
Many times the Bible tells us that it is what is in our
heart that is important. So true. Our relationships are fueled from our heart
so I remind myself to dwell on positive things, and not on the negative; a
friend said that I am getting sweeter as I grow older; I was greatly touched by that remark! Me? Sweet? How lovely! What a great work our lovely
Lord is doing in me. "How precious
is your unfailing love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings"
(Psalm 36:7). Ultimately love is what equips each of us to be fully human.
Spiritual Life:
Now that I'm convinced that my spirit is the most important
part of me, I worry less about my body and try to balance my living towards Jesus
rather than towards my own self. I'm coming into line with how Paul felt as he
wrote to the Philippians: "For to
me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (1:21).
Part of a Christian life is constant learning and I've
always seen that Christians never stop studying; we are like those amazing
redwood trees Trish and I saw in Our salvation happens in an instant, then the rest of our life we are being sanctified; this is where learning and growth are so important. Jesus always
has more to teach us and learning becomes part of the "renewing of our
minds" (Romans 12:2).
Because I'm now more sedentary I have more time to read and
pray and praise Jesus. This makes it easy to be positive and to be very
grateful for how I'm made and how He has kept and preserved me ..
"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength’. [And]: ‘You
shall love your neighbour as yourself’.
There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).
Amen!
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Praise Jesus.
