As you know, I'm a pretty big fan of physical exercise. A major goal of this website is to move people out of the realm of passivity into the realm of action. Sometimes people turn from spectator to participant in a matter of days. Often it takes them years, if at all. Reminds me of a story I once heard. It's one of the most famous fishing jokes of all time. Seems there was a fisherman named Pete. At the end of the day he almost always had two or three stringers full of fish. Other fishermen may have caught only two or three, but not Pete. He always seemed to be loaded with fish. There was no limit on number, only size, and all of Pete's fish were big enough to bring home.
The curiosity of the fish and game warden finally made him corner Pete and ask him, "What's your secret?" Pete said, "Meet me here tomorrow morning and I'll show you." The next morning Pete and the warden boated to a secluded part of the lake. When Pete stopped the motor, everything was as still as could be. Pete reached into his tackle box, pulled out a stick of dynamite, lit it, tossed it in the air, and when it it was about to hit the lake there was an enormous explosion. Fishes of all size began to float to the surface. Without a word, Pete made his way over and with his net picked up the largest fish and strung them. At this, the fish and game warden flipped out. "Why, you can't do that! I'll have you arrested! You're going to get fined on top of everything else!" About that time, Pete reached into his tackle box, pulled out another stick of dynamite, lit it, tossed it into the warden's lap, and said, "You going just sit there all day watching? Or are you going to fish?"
Don't worry. I'm not going to drop a stick of dynamite in your lap today, though I would light the fuse in a second if by doing so I could get you as involved as I believe all of us could be and should be in the matter of physical fitness. I imagine there's not a person reading this who doesn't believe in these things. But somehow getting it into our experience seems impossible. My desire is not to increase your guilt. My desire is to remind you that there awaits you a dynamic power from Christ that only you can tap into. My hope is that one day after reading this blog a few more people would become engaged in this thing called "temple care" instead of simply folding their arms and watching other people do it.
Have a wonderful evening!
