As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, let me add a wee bit more on the subject. I was talking with a friend today about how, in her circle of friends and family, 2012 was kind of a crummy year. It seemed to her that there was more than the usual amount of people getting sick or dying over the past twelve months. That led the conversation around to areas that are more philosophical.
You can keep yourself fit, keep your bad habits under control, get regular check-ups, but as I said in yesterday’s post, none of us is promised a tomorrow. What should we do then? Should we live in fear of getting sick, having some horrible debilitating accident, or perhaps dying? Should we turn into hypochondriacs, calling the doctor every time we see an advertisement for the latest drug designed to treat the latest syndrome? Or, as is all too common in our society, become obsessed with health and well-being to the point that we turn diet and exercise into a religion? We concluded that the answer is no, we shouldn’t fall into those traps. You do what you reasonably can and leave the rest to God. Live your life, and let what happens, happen. Yeah, it’s trite, but hey, it’s true!
There’s a popular current in our culture, unfortunately prominent in some Christian circles, that God wants us all to be healthy and wealthy. If you don’t live in some consumerist, American version of prosperity, enjoying perfect health, then your faith is somehow weak. Well, God does want us to be healthy—spiritually healthy. If we are physically healthy, then that’s a blessing, and thank Him for it! God wants us to be wealthy—in charity toward our neighbor as ourselves. If we are materially wealthy then that, too, is a blessing and thank Him for it! No, life is hard for a reason. To borrow from St. Benedict, life is a school of conversion and conversion is never easy.
Let me tell you a quick story—Wait! Where ya going? It’s a short one I promise!
When I was a lad, and thinking of going out for the football team, I told my Dad I wanted to play with the rest of my friends, but that I was worried about getting hurt. He sat me down and gave me a very good piece of advice, not just about football but also about life. I didn’t realize it at the time, but years and miles have shown the wisdom of it.
He told me that football is a contact sport. Bumps and bruises are inevitable. The trick is not to worry about it, expect to get hurt now and then, and just play. In football, players collide. It’s the guy who delivers the blow that gets up. The one who shrinks from the blow is the one who gets hurt.
Life is a contact sport. Keep yourself in game-shape; don’t shrink from the blows, and just play.
