The Weight of Seminary

Learner enjoys exercising about as much as he enjoys getting a paper cut…then having lemon juice poured on it…then soaking it in turpentine. From his perspective, “good” and “workout” have no business being in the same sentence, let alone the same language.

And yet, when he stepped on the scales a week ago and registered the highest weight (granted, by only ten pounds) he's ever been at in his life, he says he realized that he's finally going to have to come to grips with the fact that his 35-year-old body is just not capable anymore of absorbing his 15-year-old eating habits. In addition, he recognized that it’s probably time to get serious about some kind of intentional physical exercise that involved more effort than doing remote control curls on the couch.

As grateful as he is to be alive, he says he must be honest that the fact that he's going to have to start working at being alive and caring for what once simply took care of itself frustrates him. It’s work to try to eat better (let alone right); it’s work to wake up earlier in the morning (let alone exercise for forty-five minutes each day); it’s work to have to think about taking care of his body (as well as the five other bodies - his family - he's responsible to take care of on a daily basis).

But it’s work that, because he's alive, he says he's called to do. As anybody trying to take better care of his or her body knows, there are no quick and final fixes to good health, nor does going it alone tend to work, at least for the long haul. He's had to ask Mrs. Learner to help him watch what he eats, as well as ask God to help him to do the things – eat less, exercise – that he doesn’t always want to do.

Good thing tomorrow is an official day of fasting here at the seminary. For physical reasons, Learner could use a week...