The Fleeting
“The pleasures of life mock us because they are fleeting.”
Taking the wonderful Alistair Begg's quote and applying it to our vein would mean simply and profoundly that every physical accomplishment that you and I can make in this life, whether in the gym, on the road or in sports - everything we do mocks us because it's all so temporary. So fleeting.
Considering the current atmosphere and the COVID-19 crisis, I'm not so sure that any book has had a more tangible, practical impact on my life than this one in recent memory. I'm collecting my thoughts and heart around a few of its passages, and I plan on unraveling them this over the rest of the month, but if I were to be so bold as to try and summarize the book of Ecclesiastes for us as fitness experts, disability advocates and health-minded believers, it would be this:
Fear God. Fitness is meaningless.
Now, I would pull that punch or at least provide some sort of qualifier for the other foot to drop provided my short summary, but here's the thing, it's true. Mind you, the writer of Ecclesiastes is incredibly wise (probably - with the exception of Jesus - the wisest that ever lived), so I urge you to read it this week. And for the purpose of the common denominator of physical stewardship that we share, try and strain your health through each chapter. And as we'll see together, once you and I begin to fear God, the less we fear losing muscle. And at the risk of sounding crazy to some of you (or to my younger self), equally true is this: The more we fear God, the less anxious we are about the need to gain muscle.
Truth is, and from experience, the mirror can mock us in its praise as much as it can mock us in its critique. But that mocking - whether by flattering us or offending us - will only take effect, it will only land and take root, it will only disturb us if we have yet to settle our hearts on that which isn't so fleeting.
-Jimmy Peña
For Discussion: Are you being mocked by the pleasure of health or the pain of its loss? I hope you plan on joining me as we go through this series. And please be praying for each other, for me and for Team PrayFit as we head into next week. Speaking of, let's go to the Lord together. It's been a while since we've had the chance to meet like this. We have so much on our minds.
GOING ALL VIRTUAL
As you may have seen on our social media pages, we are moving to an all-virtual format for the 3rd Annual PrayFit Run on May 2nd. Thank you for your understanding, but we will not be meeting in person here in Los Angeles, but we will join the virtual community and walk and run at home and around our neighborhoods. We press on.
