RE - CREATION:

I have been surprised, no, amazed at the physicality that is being reported on FaceBook. I have wondered if the reports are accurate, embellished, an attempt to appear to be keeping up with the Jones or if this push to out jog, out jazzercise or out gym in multitudinous ways ones peers is real and sincere. I have also wondered if all this body movement is really as totally healthful as it is being drummed up to be. I wonder when a strip mall cannot have legitimacy except it have a conditioning facility of some kind. I wonder if it is a good thing or a bad thing when jogging trails and exercise stations have replaced barbecue areas in our parks. I wonder about the ever present quest to become one size smaller, ten pounds lighter or have my body two shades darker or lighter than the natural pigmentation of my skin.

As I watch and admire the beautiful bronze bodies bustling along I cannot help but wonder about whether we have lost the fundamental principles of recreation.

RECREATION: Time and acts spent in the process of Re-Creation.

I am sure the ancient Greeks would have been elated at the current fascination and desire to be sound of body, but I also believe they would have wondered if we hadn't confused and mistaken the means for the end. Those wise men of old rightfully understood that the purpose of a sound body was to keep one's body from being a hindrance to becoming sound of mind. Life's exercises were meant to Re-Create the total being not just to harden the outer crust. The Lord might have been giving this same message when in the Word of Wisdom he connected running without being weary with one's ability to obtain wisdom and hidden treasures of knowledge.

Random thoughts on the process of Re-Creation:

• Am I really involved in the Re-Creation process when my avocation has become the same stressful drag as my vocation?
• Am I really involved in the Re-Creation process when exercise becomes a duty rather that a pleasurable activity?
• Am I really involved in the Re-Creation process when games become a 'have to' rather than a 'get to' activity?

Random thoughts on maximizing my Re-Creation activities:

• When I am involved in physical exercise do I remember that pleasure in the doing is an absolute must if I am to bear the sweet fruit of Re-Creation?
• In the process of Re-Creation there is no direct correlation between degree of pain and desired results. One person's pain may well be another's pleasure.
• Variety in one's regimen will add spice and longevity to Re-Creational activities – joggers gotta swim – swimmers gotta cycle.

Perhaps far and away the most important step in the process of Re-Creating the total being is to be involved in those activities which will generate soundness of mind – tune us up spiritually and in an unusual and underused way add vigor to the body. The Greeks called it Logic and would spend two hours so engaged for each hour of physicality. The Hindus made it the end quest of every Yoga position. Confucius said that meditation brought meaning to all of man's meanderings. Christ admonished all to ponder constantly in our hearts in order to facilitate the passage of life's trials.

These ancient sources of wisdom universally counseled that we could facilitate the Re-Creation process by including the following in our meditations:

• What are the roots of my existence?
• Have I come to an understanding and kept in remembrance my parentage which has been veiled by time?
• Am I developing control over those things I allow my mind to ponder upon? If my pondering is mainly upon the stresses of daily grind little or no Re-Creation will result. This also might be something to consider as we attend to our duties in the House of the Lord and seek for advancement of our souls. Can the Lord write upon a slate which has been previously filled with my personal agenda?
• Do I ponder upon things which will elevate the human condition rather than demean it?
• Do I concentrate on understanding the steps needed to aid the total me in breaking the bonds which will move me beyond my old rutted self – physically – mentally and spiritually?

The next time we rush off to our local "fat dropping – muscle snapping florescent decked' activity it might be well to remember that physical fitness is not an end, but a means and that the end will not be met until we have Re-Created our whole soul.