Make The Climb

My second mountain. Our tag line used to be "Life is not about the body, but our health is a means of praise." You may remember that from the old site. It's a little clunky. Somewhat wordy. But despite its lack of rhythm and meter, it's still true. It still holds. Meaning, that any health we have (defined as anywhere between first and last heartbeat) is our chance at worship; our one shot at giving glory to His grace.

But the older I get and the longer I spend in the fitness industry, and especially as PrayFit gets closer to its second mountain, I am growing ever convinced of the complexity of physical stewardship. And perhaps as if I'm peering into a whirlpool of my own history, and writing, and shortcomings, and illnesses, and breakdowns and breakthroughs, and sin, and grace, I imagine myself reaching into the mixture of devotions and pulling out that old phrase "means of praise" out of the millions of other words and axioms we've used over the years.

Placing it aside, there it is. “Means of praise.” Drying it off, so to speak, I take a good look at it. Chin in my hands, I ask it, "What value do you have in my life and in the life of my readers, old and new? After all this time, what do you really mean?"

In the end, bodily stewardship is just a pathway to generosity. Bodily stewardship doesn’t begin in the gym and end in a flex, but rather it begins and ends in a heart where God is pleased, His image is cherished and His will is pursued in the process.

As stewards, you and I have been put in charge of something that’s not our own; that God made and gave us to take care of temporarily, these bodies. Of course, that's not anything new or rare to see on this site. It's not exactly the spotted owl. But because of its familiarity, we glaze over that sentence as if we've just been given the specials menu at our favorite restaurant. But I know in my own life, if the simplest form of bodily stewardship isn’t more than mindful management, I've missed it.

So yes, there’s a story behind the 2. There’s a message behind the symbol. Because if we’re not careful, we can talk so much about “Faith & Fitness” that we don’t do anything for anyone with either. Trust me, I know. I’ve wasted so much time talking. And I also left too much in the gym; so much that I thought that having a body or taking care of it meant that I was being a steward. Not true. What’s more, I even went so far as to use my faith as a platform to show off my body. Silly. I probably would have had my tables overturned in the temple. Then I got sick. But you know that story.

But honestly, how fit did I have to be to serve the helpless or help the hopeless? How big did my legs have to be or my arms for that matter in order to DO something. I’m done talking. That’s why we created The Body. To do something besides pat our backs or line our pockets. I’ve made my way to the bottom of my second mountain. That’s where things get done. I’ll die trying to help people with special needs; the people Jesus talked about in Luke 14 and my friends at church and strangers around the globe. I will fail while daring greatly as Roosevelt said. And I’m only getting started.

I just want to thank all of you for seeing me to this point. Some of you have been with me for 10 years. Others of you 10 minutes. But welcome to the end of the beginning. Welcome to my 2nd wind. And that’s what the 2 is all about. It means the end of mere stewardship and the start of generosity. The tour is over. PrayFit’s first mountain, and mine personally, has been conquered. The 2nd mountain, the one of meaning and purpose and vocation , well, it conquered me.