Weights of Glory

Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

My back was getting better from the couch slumbering. I found the softness of the cushions and laying long-wise was bad for the spine and sent my poor back into spasm. So, I have spent time in the rocking chair. Fitting for the old man I am.

A couple of days ago though, my back once again started to hurt. Then I got to thinking: I have abandoned the lifting of weights. Initially it was the vacation to Chicago for a week but then in the last two weeks, upon return, I have avoided lifting, in an attempt to heal the back. It has me speculation that the avoidance is actually the source of the ache.

It seems as if God is teaching  me that I need to raise the weights in order to exercise my back out of its maladies; that neglecting the exercise is causing my back to internally collapse. Self-diagnosis can be suspect but I am testing out the theory. I lifted weights for 20 minutes today and will issue a prognosis in a day or two. Lifting weights is akin to praising God. We are meant to exercise our faith into attitude and action. Absorbing grace then expressing glory to God.        

C.S. Lewis wrote in the essay The Weight of Glory the following: "We are summoned to pass through Nature, beyond her, into the splendour which she fitfully reflects." That is God. God's glory, according to the Westminster Confession, is the chief end of man, and to enjoy Him forever. When we try to accept glory on our own and for our own it breaks us. Deification of humanity without the Trinity as the object of faith drives us down into disease...we are made in the image of God but are not God. Man as mirror.

We have to give back to God...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shake the Dust: Anis Mojgani

Pslam 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." I am not real certain where Anis Mojgani comes from belief-wise. Cats like him tend to be synchrestic spiritually rather than Christ-centered. Yet, this poem captures the spirit of Jesus. What this poem also needs is grace....we shake off sin and mortality and take on Christ and immortality. This is for the fat girls This is for the little brothers For the former prom queen And for the milk crate ball players This is for the school yard wimps And the childhood bullies that tormented them Shake the dust. This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them. This is for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns And for the men who have to hold down 3 jobs, Simply to hold up their children. For the nighttime schoolers And for the midnight bike riders trying to fly Shake the dust. For the two year olds who cann
Read more

White Shoes, White Stones

Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it. (ASV) With the white stone mentioned above in the Scripture verse, "And will give him a white stone" it is "Supposed that by the white stone is meant pardon or acquittance, and the evidence of it; and that there is an allusion here to the custom observed by judges in ancient times, who were accustomed to give their suffrages by white and black pebbles; those who gave the former were for absolving the culprit, those who gave the latter were for his condemnation." (Clarke) What has brought about this essay was my purchasing the other day of some very white and new Nike jogging shoes. My old pair of Nike's have been worn down. I was developing serious pain in my feet which is a solid sign that it is t
Read more

Going Rogue: Dare, Risk, Dream

Image
I picked up a bumper sticker at a Pub recently from the Rogue Brewery . On it there are the words: DARE, RISK, DREAM. Typically, the word Rogue is a negative term. I will let you decide if Sarah Palin and her book has made the word less or more so. Initially, I taped the bumper sticker to my computer lap top with the backing still on it in case I wanted to remove it. Just a second ago, I committed fully, and pulled the backing off and affixed it to my Dell. No turning back. Is that not an illustration of how to accomplish great things? We have to stick and commit. If we go taping ourselves to the backs of things, it leads to easier removal but also to tepid efforts. Now, if I take this bumper sticker off the back of my lap top it is going to be a mess...I am all in. Consequences be damned. My summer vacation officially began today at noon (why else would I be blogging at 3:26 am?) and my creed for the summer is DARE, RISK, DREAM. A Kerouac quote to light the fireworks... "Great th
Read more