Most of our
conversation, it seems, revolves around our bodies and money: how we look, how
to stay healthy, how to remain young, how to become wealthy. We spent 2020 hunkered down, masked up and
isolated just to stay alive.
Concern for our
bodies drives a large segment of our economy.
United States health care expense passed $3.81 trillion in 2019. Most of this, of course, was corrective
surgery and treatment, but elective cosmetic surgery totals more than 13
billion dollars. This includes liposuction,
breast augmentation and hair removal. The fitness industry with its books,
talk-shows and exercise facilities is enormous. In 2014 fitness center revenues
in the U.S. exceeded $24 billion.
I can understand
this. Since my body is the only one I have,
I want to take care of it. Of course, I
guess there are limits to which I want to do this. I love Blue Bell ice cream
and I like to sit in the stands snacking on a hot dog while I watch healthier
people compete on the field.
I can also understand
our interest in money. We all have to
pay our bills, and most of us have ambitions to own our home, drive a nicer car,
send our kids to college and enjoy vacations.
But what happened
to the concept of the soul? We seldom
hear the word mentioned, including in our churches. Jesus taught that, as important as our bodies
may be, nothing is as important as our soul.
Regarding
the body in comparison to the soul, He said, “Do not be afraid of those who can
kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can
destroy both soul and body in hell.”
With respect to money, Jesus said, “What good will it be for someone to
gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in
exchange for their soul?”
Horatio
G. Spafford, a wealthy lawyer in the
1860s, seemed to live a charmed life enjoying both health and wealth. But, in
1870, he lost his son to scarlet fever. When
his wife’s health began to fail, he decided to move his family to Europe.
Delayed by his commitments at work, he sent his wife and four daughters ahead. On
November 22, 1873, their ship sank at sea. Only his wife survived. Returning to the spot where the ship sank,
Horatio Spafford stood looking over the swelling seas where his daughters
drowned and wrote these words:
“When peace,
like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
Horatio
and Anna Spafford spent the rest of their lives caring for homeless children,
the poor and oppressed.
We
are more than our bodies and more than our money. Our “soul” is who we really are, whether rich
or poor, healthy or sick. Our soul is
shaped by acts of kindness, honesty, virtue, generosity and faith. The destiny
of every nation and every generation is ultimately determined by the soul of
its people.