Bondage to Decay

Lectionary Reading: Romans 8:12-25 (NRSV)

Paul continues in this week's reading concerning the division of the flesh and the spirit.  It seems as if Paul is really trying to hammer home our reliance on the flesh.  This dependence on the body is quite natural for people since we live within our bodies.  They are our homes.

They have needs that force their attention upon us.

Hunger can pull me out of prayer and pain may make it difficult to concentrate on anything substantial.  Another example might be how the bladders of children or youth shrink exponentially during a sermon (okay, that might speak more about the delivery than about our attention spans).

Our bodies restrict us in their limitations.

When I was starting for my 8th grade basketball team, I thought it would be cool to dunk the ball but my size and my athletic ability limited me.

The year before this, I experienced even greater limitation as I recovered from an Achilles heel injury.   I spent about six months recovering - some of the time on complete bed rest and the remaining time on crutches.  For the times I was unable to even get out of bed, it made me consider what a blessing it is to walk.  Being able to get around independently is something I had definitely taken for granted.  Being unable to get out of bed for any of my body's needs also made me keenly aware of my own dependence on the physical aspect of our lives.

As I get older, I discover that I can no longer eat anything I want.

I require more sleep.

I seem to get sick more often than when I was younger.

I am more aware of bodily break-downs that I previously ignored (or simply didn't happen).

Okay, there are a lot of good caption possibilities here.

I really resonated with Paul's description, "bondage to decay" as I recognize my own body's expanding limitations.  At the same time, being adopted by God must be more than just pie in the sky that we look forward to when this life is over.

I'm wondering if a focus on the spirit may not move us past the flesh but might allow us not to be subject to it quite so easily.  Our culture seems to idolize everything young and beautiful.  While most recognize the shallow nature of this, our desire for a fountain of youth seems to continue to capture our attention.

What if the spirit's leading allows us to incorporate our bodies into our selves without becoming slaves to them?

As I finished this blog post, I was actually thinking of rewarding myself with some ice cream.  Hmm.  Maybe I need to spend a little time in prayer instead.

In Christ,

Sam


Picture by Marla J Aleman via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.