theology of the body
A few weeks ago at church, there was a sermon that really connected with me. I think this one is going to impact and change my life in ways that will be noticeable over the years ... particularly because of what was said about having a theology of the body.
I had never considered this before! Sure, I knew that God tells us to care for our bodies because they're the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I knew that our bodies are masterpieces created intricately and wonderfully by God. But these seemed to be scattered thoughts and instructions, and I had never gone so far as to pull them together and say, "Okay, this is holistically how God wants me to understand the body. Just like he wants me to understand salvation. Generosity. The incarnation. Etc."
I took a lot of notes during this sermon, and have been carrying them around in my purse and thinking on them for the past few weeks:
My notes from God's Prescription for Health
Then Pastor Rick talked about some of the changes that the church is making, as an organization, to promote this idea of a healthy body theology amongst the members and the community.
1. Our main campus is a huge plot of land with lots of trails and open spaces. They will be installing an outdoor fitness course for use by members and the community. Yes, please! This is so convenient, and this is a way that I, Bonni, just love to exercise. (The closest other outdoor fitness course that I know of is 20 minutes away.)
2. We recently acquired another large acreage of land on which we will be starting an organic farm. The food from our farm will be going: 1) Onto the revamped, healthy menus at the church's eateries, and 2) into our food pantry so that needy families can get good, fresh food instead of only ramen noodles and peanut butter. This second use is huge to me! Having received food pantry provisions myself for a little while, and still being extremely tight on cash, I know the struggle between deciding to spend money on food that we can afford vs. food that is healthy. I hate that poor people have to suffer in terms of diet, I hate it! And I really want to support any initiative like this that is starting to make a difference.
3. Several adult small groups are going to do the "Daniel Project" in the year 2011. They are going to put themselves under the care and direction of three nationally-recognized doctors that the church is working with, and for one year they are going to do everything "right" and see what happens.
I had never considered this before! Sure, I knew that God tells us to care for our bodies because they're the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I knew that our bodies are masterpieces created intricately and wonderfully by God. But these seemed to be scattered thoughts and instructions, and I had never gone so far as to pull them together and say, "Okay, this is holistically how God wants me to understand the body. Just like he wants me to understand salvation. Generosity. The incarnation. Etc."
I took a lot of notes during this sermon, and have been carrying them around in my purse and thinking on them for the past few weeks:
My notes from God's Prescription for Health
Then Pastor Rick talked about some of the changes that the church is making, as an organization, to promote this idea of a healthy body theology amongst the members and the community.
1. Our main campus is a huge plot of land with lots of trails and open spaces. They will be installing an outdoor fitness course for use by members and the community. Yes, please! This is so convenient, and this is a way that I, Bonni, just love to exercise. (The closest other outdoor fitness course that I know of is 20 minutes away.)
2. We recently acquired another large acreage of land on which we will be starting an organic farm. The food from our farm will be going: 1) Onto the revamped, healthy menus at the church's eateries, and 2) into our food pantry so that needy families can get good, fresh food instead of only ramen noodles and peanut butter. This second use is huge to me! Having received food pantry provisions myself for a little while, and still being extremely tight on cash, I know the struggle between deciding to spend money on food that we can afford vs. food that is healthy. I hate that poor people have to suffer in terms of diet, I hate it! And I really want to support any initiative like this that is starting to make a difference.
3. Several adult small groups are going to do the "Daniel Project" in the year 2011. They are going to put themselves under the care and direction of three nationally-recognized doctors that the church is working with, and for one year they are going to do everything "right" and see what happens.