ramblings on food, faith and politics

Over at Faithfully Finding Fitness, Gary was pondering which approach to weight loss was more effective: taking slow incremental steps or pushing yourself to achieve huge, incremental goals. Like Gary, I tended to favor the crash-course model.

In the wee hours of Tuesday night, the results for Texas came in and Clinton managed a victory over Obama. I had been hoping for an Obama victory so that the contest would be over quickly… a slam dunk… but now it will continue on for weeks, perhaps months.

This week, these two seemingly disparate thoughts collided with a third, totally unrelated topic: spiritual transformation.

And here’s where the rubber hits the road: creating true change in my heart, my soul, is not something I can achieve overnight. It’s something that I have to let the Lord achieve in me over time. It’s something I have to train for, day after day. Week after week. Hour after hour.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

So now instead of speed, I’m thinking that maybe ongoing improvement and sustainability is a better approach to losing weight, preparing a future President and getting closer to Christ.

For example: I cannot run a 26-mile marathon. People train for a marathon by running 10 miles a day. I am not at the point where I can even train to run a marathon. But if I put my mind to it, I could do it. Applying this same logic….

Physical Fitness. I know I can hit the treadmill and survive on Slim Fast for six weeks and lose ten pounds. But it won’t change who I am. I also know that I am not going to reverse a lifetime of bad habits overnight. So starting today, I am going to see if I can sustain two small changes: 1) I will exercise once a week. 2) if I am ordering lunch at work, instead of a hero sandwich I will get a salad. Now, neither of these two things are going to make me fit. But perhaps, I can start training to live a healthier life.

Spiritual Transformation. Over the past few years, I have incorporated disciplines into my life. Reading the Bible before work. Blogging. Tithing. Spending time before God. But for the past six months, I’ve been content with my actions. Maybe even proud. It’s as if I were training for a marathon, and reached a point where I was running 2 miles a day. Beats being a couch potato, for sure, but I still can’t run a marathon. So I need to, metaphorically speaking, turn up the speed on the treadmill. My next step: reading the Bibles on Saturdays, too (something I don’t do today.) OK, it's a small step -- but at least it's a forward step.

And as for the presidential primaries, I’ll try not to get so caught up in day-by-day delegate counts and 'he said-she said' headlines. Instead, I’ll just pray that they all run with perseverance the race marked out for them.

Gotta run (in more ways than one)... may your day be filled with an abundance of peace and grace.