Sunday, November 30, 2008

A daily commitment, the most important prayer

Last Sunday at my church (before Thanksgiving, but just as relevant now) our pastor was on vacation and the pastor Emeritus, pastor Bob ran the service. He's retired and generally does things a bit slower. But I find his sermons are very meaningful and actually look forward to the message (not to take anything away from our normal guy - he has some great one-liner jokes now and then ;).

But the lesson, it actually derived from the children's lesson, which they get before going to Sunday school class started with a question. What was the most important prayer Jesus taught? Some clever people said the Lord's Prayer, which is a pretty good answer. But Pastor Bob argued it was his prayer of thanks.

The prayer of thanks was so important because Jesus prayed it every day before the sun came up and every evening before bedtime. He thanked God for all the things in prayer for the day to come and the day gone by. Twice a day, every day.

Bear with me, but I think our daily exercise affirmation has a similar effect. If you rise in the morning and spend some time thanking your body (and/or God if you believe in it) for your health, and preserving your temple, it becomes a central positive force in your wellness. Your mind, your immune system, your blood, your muscles, your endocrin (hormonal) systems - they all improve! It's very different working out once or even twice a day from 3 or 4 times a week. It becomes a part of life and a driving force for preventative health, in mind and body, in a similar way to the daily affirmation of thanks did for Jesus in spirituality.

Anyway, I thought that lesson kind of spoke to me in a special way so I thought I'd share it.

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