Editorial January 8, 1972 Issue

Put the Body Down

Carl J. Welz

The once renowned conductor, Alfred Hertz, was rehearsing with a community orchestra—largely amateurs. They were about to begin the second movement of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. Mr. Hertz was meticulous. The basses—their softly descending pizzicato—must not overshadow the other instruments. Now he lifted his arms for the downbeat, held them for a moment, then dropped them, shaking his head. "Basses," he said, "already you are too loud."

Our daily lives are like a symphony. And our bodies are often like basses that are too loud. If not subdued, they would demand all our attention or the attention of those around us. Then the meaning of what we are doing today would be obscured or lost.

Paul insisted, "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection."^{ I Cor. 9:27;} Christ Jesus said, "Take no thought for your life,"^{ Matt. 6:25;} adding that the life is more than food and the body more than what we drape around it. He insisted not that we do away with the body, but that by turning thought to God, we would find God supplying not only our spiritual identities but also our temporary needs.