Looking Back...

2 Corinthians 5:1. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

The "earthly tent we live in..." - what a temporary sounding phrase to describe this body we spend so much time and money on.

All of that time and money is for the present, certainly not the future. This week, while preparing the presentation for Sunday morning's Worship I was going through lots of old photos.

Some of us haven't aged well, some are no longer among us. Others, who haven't done a particularly outstanding job of taking care of themselves, seem to have aged quite well.

Looking back to my young adulthood I recall several folks who were consumed by health fads and fitness. One, in particular, comes to mind from my college days. He had a real commitment to "maintaining (his) body, recognizing that it (was) the 'temple of the Holy Spirit!'" A couple of years into college he discovered that he had cancer and shortly thereafter died, before even completing his degree.

I know people who are consumed with maintaining some particular level of 'physical fitness' and are constantly concerned with their potential for longevity. During my career in healthcare I saw innumerable folks who were 'active and fit' but died of cancer, heart attacks and strokes.

One such individual lay in the E.R. while I was with his family making arrangements with a funeral home. He was 42 years old and died while playing basketball with some of their church friends. He was 'fit and healthy.'

I had a grandmother who had been 'dying with heart problems' since in her 20's. Sometime in her 90's she was finally buried.

The "earthly tent we live in..." won't last forever. Then what? Perhaps we should begin to spend a bit of time investing in others - developing that benevolent and compassionate part of us that will soon enough, regardless of how hard we try to postpone it, be dwelling in the "eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands."