Sunday, January 22, 2012

WALKING AND TALKING AND LEARNING

For years I have walked most weekday mornings with my best friend Judy. These outings are about so much more than the exercise. A couple of weeks ago, early one crisp morning we found ourselves on top of an amazing mesa with a panoramic view of our sleepy little valley. It had been hard climbing, but so worth the effort.
As we walked on top of the mesa, Judy shared with me an sweet experience she had witnessed between her son-in-law Jay, and his 4 year old daughter Brianna. Here is my recollection of our conversation. Brianna was obviously very upset with her sisters so much that she was throwing an all out fit. Jay calmly walked up to Brianna, knelt down to where he was eye level with her and put his hands on her shoulders. Gently he said: "I know you are angry Brianna, I know you are upset. But you are letting your body rule over your spirit. You need to get control of your body and figure out a better way to express your anger and frustration. You need to let your spirit rule over your body." When Brianna had stopped her screaming and crying, Jay said: "OK, let's figure out a better way so that your spirit is in control".

Those words: "Let's figure out a better way so that your spirit is in control" have more or less consumed my thoughts as of late. Do all of my words and the way I use them show that my spirit is in control? It doesn't matter what the situation is or who the person is; all my actions should indicate that my spirit is ruling over my body.

So dear children, I write....that you may know the importance of having our spirits in control of our bodies. As that takes place in our lives we begin to "receive His image in our countenance".

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