Physical exercise

This being Lent and confession being good for the spirit, I feel compelled to admit that for the past four months I have failed to exercise on a regular basis. That is a radical departure from a decades’ long habit of running at least several times a week.

In early November, I caught a bad cold. Very shortly after recovering from that, I caught a second cold after spending a night (thankfully, only one) in a hotel room without heat and hot water followed by a day on airplanes with lots of coughing and sneezing people. The weather had also turned, and remained, unusually cold and wet, destroying any meteorological incentive to exercise. Periodic travel comprised of over-scheduled days further complicated my return to exercise.

Consequently, I gained about seven pounds, lost some of my energy, and found myself less focused. Exercise, as I’ve known and counseled for years, is good for one’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Last week, thanks be to God, I resumed exercising and already feel the benefits.

The Bible does not say anything about exercise. However, in Scripture we read that God created humans as physical beings, that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that people are to eat and drink in moderation. My guess is that several thousand years ago nobody gave much though to the need for regular exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle because simply surviving placed much greater physical demands on people. Transportation, for example, entailed considerable physical exertion except for the privileged very few who traveled by sedan chair. Everyday household and occupational tasks similarly involved significant physical effort.

I’m a fan of progress. I enjoy modern comforts and have no real desire to live in a previous era. In fact, I find daydreaming about what life may be like in another hundred or two years more interesting than romanticizing about the past. However, progress has multiple costs. One of the implicit costs – though sometimes also one of the joys – of modern conveniences is the need for regular physical exercise to care for body, mind, and self.