Yesterday I shared that we often fail to understand the God-given power of the mind and the spirit being much more powerful than our bodies. Today I want to reinforce this truth! Whenever I write my sermons, I put on a farmer’s hat, grab a clipboard, paper, a pen, and prayerfully write down what comes to me. After I have thought about what I want to say, I begin to prepare. First, I study the scripture, and then I go out into the field, which is the Back Bay Nature Preserve. I walk and pray that the Lord will tell me what to share.

Recently as I was preparing my sermon, I saw a senior gentleman during my walk. We greeted one another as he stared pensively over the water. My clipboard caught his eye and he asked about it. “I’m writing a sermon. I’m a pastor.” And he replied, “I’m a pastor too, a retired pastor who performs burials at sea for all types of faiths.” We exchanged ideas, and he shared some amazing experiences. He noted that for Christian funerals there was an agreement of the afterlife in Heaven. But now performing burials at sea, he often witnesses the power of hope and despair. Despair is the idea that the greatest things in your life are behind you and not in front of you. And of course, hope and faith are the opposite — and there’s power in this. 

Friend, as we age, as we face injury and illness, we should remember that our bodies are precious to God. We should love our bodies and take care of them. But at the end of the day, let me encourage you that the God-given mind and spirit are much more powerful!