Temple Appreciation, Every Day

Before I share this message, I have a scripture and a story to share with you. I take to heart Paul’s message to care for our bodies. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, he says, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This physical body that accompanies us through life is a precious gift. It is normal to forget what a beautiful gift it is to have life and to have this body be home to our minds and spirits as well as sharing this body (or as Paul calls it, this temple) with the Holy Spirit. I know it’s easy to see the imperfections of our bodies, but it is the only one we have. And it is a miracle. And it is beautiful. And it is a gift.

As I mentioned, I take this charge seriously to care for my body. I believe that if we are to show up energetically in life, it’s important that we appreciate this opportunity to live life and participate in life more fully by caring for this temple where we reside.

This leads me to a story.

Yesterday, I completed a half-marathon run. This run meant a lot to me because I missed my opportunity to participate in this event last year. I had a knee injury that took me out of my training and required surgery. I’ve participated in several running events over the past twelve years, so I was disappointed to miss this event that has become an annual tradition for me and a few of my running friends (shout out to Jason and Tom). I missed out last year because of an injury that set me back and took a full year of daily work in order to fully recover. I don’t say any of this to bring attention to my running “accomplishment” but rather to the fact that trust in the process and the patience to show up every day has paid off for me. I am a guy who takes my health seriously, was frustrated to have an obstacle enter my path, but was grateful to finally return to this activity I love and look forward to participating in each year. To return, I took this year to eat more intentionally than I did in the past, I took time to move throughout the day more, and I took time to rest and recover more. I was determined to return and knew it would take a lot of time and hard work. I did return, and it was a lot of work. But it was certainly worth the effort.

We have been given this beautiful gift of mind, body, and soul. How amazing that we are given the opportunity every day to care for this gift. To use this mind we’ve been given to learn and grow and make a plan to follow our path. To use this body we’ve been given to eat, move, sleep, and become energized to live well and feel well, perhaps extending the life of this temple, providing the a healthy vessel to commune with the Spirit. And to use this soul we’ve been given to stir us to action, moving forward in life, led by the Spirit, living and serving in a way that improves our lives and hopefully the lives of those around us. Appreciating and participating in this great mystery of life is reason enough to celebrate every day we have been given as we practice the process of living life well. No matter our circumstances, I believe we can flourish. Grateful not FOR everything, but IN and THROUGH everything, we have the opportunity to choose how we will respond. Yes, we face obstacles, but we ALWAYS have a choice, moment to moment, to take a step forward into growth and in love. How amazing to just consider the fact that each of us lives in a temple, a physical gift given to us. I pray that each day we recognize how blessed we are as we find ways to face obstacles in faith (trust), hope (openness), and love (belonging and connection). Regardless of our circumstances, we can always take a step forward. Starting today. Every Day.

Rick Weinheimer is an amazing man of God. He is a tremendous role model, and I consider him one of my “life coaches” that I connect with when I have important questions. He is a man I can turn to and trust when I need guidance or direction or encouragement. And a man I look to when I want to share or vent or celebrate or just need an ear of a compassionate friend. Rick is the author of the book, Move Your Chair and is the founder of the consulting firm, Every Day Excellence.

This week, I reread one of his pieces called Finding Excellence. In this piece, he writes about his high school coaching days where he was remarkably successful. His teams won numerous awards including several state championships, but Rick always made it clear that he valued something much more important. Not necessarily reaching excellence, but rather always reaching for excellence. Here's a short passage from his piece, but I highly recommend reading it all (as well as his other works).

Winning can’t be the only thing.

Winning has to be about all that has gone

into those thousands of minutes of preparation

and all the growth that has come from that dedication.

When I realized that,

I knew I had discovered the path toward excellence.

I also knew that if I could put it into words,

I could help others who wanted excellence

in any of its forms in their own lives.

As I read further about successful people,

I discovered that,

no matter what area their success had come in,

their achievement occurred,

like a last place runner determined to improve,

as a result of their efforts each and every day.

I shared this piece with the residents at the Brown County Jail where I volunteer. As I reminded them, I'll remind you, you are a precious gift, mind, body, and spirit. Remember that you are loved. You are of tremendous value. Regardless of what you may think of yourself, know that you are worthy of love and are capable of reaching for this “every day excellence” Rick teaches us. Think about that. I pray that you will believe in yourself as much as we do. God bless you today and Every Day. Grace and peace.