Working out (and in)!

When I was preparing for my studies abroad at Luther Seminary I knew the studies would take its toll on my body (at least more than it does for a student in Sweden). Because of this I made a promise to myself to move my body every now and then (other than moving from classroom to classroom). It initially went very well since I managed to get a key to the gym at Luther (called God's Gym). Then there was the issue with getting some training clothes... and then the issue with actually working out from time to time..

This week, however, I successfully doubled my visits to God's gym! The secret? A workout friend! We both realized that we should be working out, but had a hard time finding the motivation to do so on our own. I must say it feels good to feel fatigue in something else than my mind for once!

When I think about working out I can cannot help but also think about a sermon from the pastor in my home congregation many years ago. I do not remember the whole sermon, but I remember the part when he spoke about him going to the gym, seeing many different persons working out, many of them being very fit, and asking himself the question "What if these people were training to keep themselves spiritually fit? Putting all that effort and all those hours in prayer and in reading the bible?"

The point was not that we should do a "spiritual workout" instead of just "workout", but the fact that we sometimes(or most of the time) tend to only doing one of them. "Spiritual workout" or working with our inside (working in) does not have to be the opposite of training your body (working out). Or as the saying goes "a sound mind in a sound body" or "a healthy mind in a healthy body" something that I as a student of theology forget every now and then.