Article January 4, 1999 Issue

A childlike approach to fitness

Giving less thought to what we eat is a wise thing to do.

By Joyce D. Wethe Robertson

PURSUING THE MOST up-to-date outlook on nutrition, exercise, and bodily proportion can become practically a fulltime job. But increasingly people are coming to the conclusion that total fitness involves more. There is a spiritual hunger that, once filled, can bring the answer to the litany of bodily concerns.

How can we fill our spiritual need and speed our progress away from a fixation with the body? A clue might be taken from the attitude of young children. A young child doesn't care if his clothes have a designer label or if his body isn't shaped like the people on television. And, generally, if he's truly hungry, he will eat whatever is offered to him, and then naturally stop eating when he's full. A well-caredfor child has learned to trust that his needs will be met both now and in the future. Without the anxiety about health and appearance that has been educated into us by the world around us, we, too, might be as free as children in trusting these things to our heavenly Parent, God.

"Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? . . . But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" are the wise words of Christ Jesus (Matt. 6:31,33). Not only did Jesus teach these things, but he practiced what he preached. Wherever he went he was fed and housed, both in humble homes and in mansions, but we don't read that he made dietary demands on his hosts. By finding love in God, whom he called "my Father, and your Father," Jesus was able to both give and receive expressions of love and gratitude freely, and his needs were met.

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