For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Luke 12:23
“Mature materiality must focus on a mature sense of the human body. Jesus’ statement to His disciples about the importance of life and body in Luke 12:23 follows the parable in which the rich farmer thinks His life consists in the accumulation of food; perhaps he cared more for his clothing and his appearance than he did for his body. The disciples of Jesus are to have their priorities straight. Food and clothing do not count for as much as life and body.
We may recognize at the outset that mature materiality concerning the body begins with responsible self-care. We know the routines and rules for responsible self-care: proper eating, proper exercise, and proper sleep, disciplines that refuse overeating, excessive passivity, and excessive restlessness. Good self-care does not specialize in drugs, cosmetics, excessive pursuit of consumer goods, or excessive online time that may detract from a centered self. We also know that social connectedness to neighbors makes for a healthy self in a healthy body.”
Walter Brueggemann in Materiality As Resistance: Five Elements for Moral Action in the Real World (Louisville: WJKP, 2020), 41.
What does responsible self-care look like for you? Do you have healthy rhythms related to eating, exercise, sleep, and service that enable you to live, give, serve, and love generously?
I appreciate how Brueggemann calls for “disciplines that refuse overeating, excessive passivity, and excessive restlessness.” God made us to work and to accomplish His purposes, we must care for our bodies and souls. We must have our priorities straight.
I discern that the reason God’s Word does not prescribe behavior relates to the differing bandwidths and capacities of His servants. In plain terms, we have different abilities and responsibilities. That means each of us must learn our limits and care for ourselves accordingly. Some look at another and say, “you need to rest more.” Others who function at a higher level might say, “you need to work more.”
Do you see the point? We must not prescribe rhythms of life and body on others but encourage each other to locate rhythms that help us pursue God’s purposes for each of us.
I find it ironic to write about life and body while sitting in Nepal where society has collapsed, lives have been lost, buildings have been torched, every incarcerated criminals got released, and people have retreated to their homes.
I could not get a confirmed seat out until Saturday so to try to survive I will move from a residential area that has experienced theft and looting to a more remote place for my safety and strategic discussions with GTP staff member, Prakash Chandra Giri.
How cool that the most common response to our accountability and generosity meetings was “timely.” Now that corruption caused the crashing of civilization as the Nepalese knew it, the Church will help rebuild Nepal with help from GTP.