Hi, all!
Often when I'm writing my sermon, I'll stop and take a break. I'll put on my coat and walk down the hill to the Tracyton boat ramp, then come back home a different way. As I'm walking, I often find that an idea or a story for the sermon will come to me. Maybe it's the fresh air, or maybe it's the stimulation of exercise, but somehow I find it helpful.
It reminds me that the mind and body are connected in ways we often overlook. What we do with our body affects our spirit, and the other way around. We are whole people, body and soul. St. Paul says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?"
When we use our bodies -- gardening, working out, dancing, woodworking, hiking, and making art, for example -- we're doing soul work. Our spirit revives when we take pleasure in our physical being, and we feel the grace of the body and soul together. I'm sure God intends us to be physically healthy as well as spiritually healthy.
Today I stopped by the Lord's Neighborhood Diner at St. Paul's and saw our volunteers at work preparing the weekly meal for the homeless. Pat Reese, Sally Schneider, Lynda Loveday, and Jean Mackimmie were up to their elbows in jalapeno peepers and rice, and it smelled great! I'm so proud that we help prepare this free meal once every two months. "I was hungry and you gave me food." (Matthew 25:35)
Another meal today was the Men's Breakfast, cooked by Bill Demmon for 15 of us, followed by a very interesting conversation with Capt. Jim Puttler, Navy NW Region Chaplain. You should have heard all those deep voices singing "Eternal Father, strong to save"!
Please remember Eleanor Brook in your prayers. For many years this good soul worked as a nurse at Harrison Hospital, and now she's on the other side of the bed rail, recovering in the Harrison ICU from open-heart surgery last Tuesday. May God strengthen her and revive her, body and soul.
And may God bless us and keep us all, every one.
Bill
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