My friend Scott Richardson preached this fine sermon based on the "The Swan" this past Sunday in San Diego; check it out. I like his conclusion:
It seems that it is not enough to strive to be well anymore, to be healthy in spirit, mind and body. To be truly acceptable today, we’re told that we should be superbly fit, young, successful, rich, educated, witty – or, lacking that, just beautiful.
But again, that is not consistent with the witness of scripture, with Christ’s message of unconditional love for God, neighbor and self. A priest I knew years ago resisted that message in the service of her Lord and as a holy response to the insanity of vanity. She was a wise, tough woman in her mid-70’s when we met. Once, while leading a workshop on the right relationship between spirit, mind and body, she suggested that we would all do ourselves a great favor if we would stand naked in front of a mirror for just five minutes per week… and praise God that we are saved by grace. Amen.
The question I have -- and I suspect I am not alone in asking this -- is whether for most folks, five minutes a week naked in front of the mirror would be an increase or a decrease! For me, it might well be the latter -- and offering up praise for God's grace as I gazed at my body would indeed be new. I'm going to give it a shot.
Might this be bad advice for someone who is both homosexual and narscistic? For those of us who might find it somewhat embarassing, the concentration on God's amazing grace (and love)would be welcome thoughts to contemplate.
Posted by: Joy Paul | April 29, 2004 at 08:39 PM