How’s Your ‘Bucket List’ Coming Along?

One of my favorite films, especially having reached “senior years,” is “The Bucket List,” about two aging men (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) with one thing in common. They’re both coping with terminal cancer. After striking up an unlikely friendship, they develop a mutual “bucket list” – things to accomplish before they “kick the bucket.” The film watches them check items off the list.

What's in your 'bucket'?

I’ve never compiled an actual bucket list, but have had the pleasure of accomplishing lots of things I would have put on it, had I bothered to compile one. There are the obvious choices, like finding a loving wife, along having great kids and grandkids; a rewarding career that I have considered successful; and finding meaning and purpose in life, which have largely come through my faith. 

Then there are more discretionary items I have  checked off my imaginary bucket list, like seeing the Grand Canyon (twice); visiting Disney World (multiple times); traveling outside the USA (again, a number of times); meeting some famous people (including Archie Griffin, Woody Hayes, Jack Nicklaus, Jesse Owens – are you seeing a Scarlet and Gray trend here?); and helping people along their spiritual journey.

But two things I’ve never wanted to include on a bucket list are running in a marathon and competing in a triathlon, basically a marathon plus water and a bicycle. I’m more anchor than swimmer, so triathlons were scratched off the list before they could be added. And frankly, I’d never be willing to commit to the time and effort required to do either. 

You don’t just bounce out of bed one morning and declare, “I’m running a marathon (or doing a triathlon) today!” They take months of preparation, mentally as well as physically. It takes incredible determination and discipline, training whether you feel like it or not, being willing to forgo eating the wrong foods, and maintaining a mindset that you’re willing to do whatever it takes.

Then again, from a spiritual perspective my life for the past 40-plus years has amounted to a real-life, every day marathon. It’s been said so often it’s become a cliché, but it’s true: The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. At times you might find yourself going a bit faster and the course seems smooth; at other times the path gets extremely rough and you’re coming almost to a halt, maybe even taking steps backward. But with God’s strength and relying on His grace, you keep moving.

The apostle Paul liked metaphors of athletic sacrifice and the long-distance run. Writing to believers in the church at the Greek city of Philippi, he said, “…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

Just as marathon runners midway through a race don’t dwell on what they were doing at the three-mile mark, in our spiritual lives we also must be willing to forget our failings, the “woulda’s, coulda’s and shoulda’s” of our lives, and concentrate on where we are presently in our walk with the Lord and where we believe He wants us to go.

Among the most heartening scenes during any marathon or triathlon is the crowd lined up throughout the route, some folks cheering on friends and family members, others providing refreshment as competitors continue along the way. It must be tremendously encouraging for runners to know they’re not alone. 

The Bible says the same about our spiritual journey: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).

I’m not certain exactly who this “cloud of witnesses” consists of, whether it means fellow believers we encounter from day to day or perhaps, those who have already gone passed from this life. In any event, isn’t it great to know we have “cheerleaders” exhorting us? “Keep it up!” “Don’t give up!” “You can do this!” “The Lord is with you!”

One day each of us will reach the end of our personal marathon. In a final letter to Timothy, his young protégé, Paul also wrote, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and he time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:6-7). The apostle, nearing the end of his earthly life and ministry, felt confident of finishing well. Having endured great opposition, adversity and near-death experiences, he could at last see the race’s end.

How did Paul succeed in doing this? I think we find the answer in another book; we don’t know its author for sure, but it must have reflected his motivation: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

Finishing well in your marathon of faith: Is that on your bucket list? Are your eyes fixed on Jesus?

Fitness: Body, Mind and Spirit

Standup paddleboarding has become a fitness favorite in many
parts of the world. Here two people paddle their boards near the
historic Delta Queen steamboat in Chattanooga, Tenn.

If talk and intentions equated to physical conditioning, the United States would become the fittest nation in the history of mankind.

There have been enough books written about diets to fill the libraries of many small towns, not to mention diet and fitness videos. Fitness centers of all types seem to be popping up on every corner, ranging from the casual, come-whenever-you-like variety to women-only facilities to YMCAs to hard-core camps designed for aspiring Navy SEALS. There are even programs to conveniently fit your lunch hour or unorthodox work schedule, so you can flex on your flex-time.

Do you like competitive events? You can choose from fun walks and runs to mud runs to marathons to triathlons, including the Ironman. There’s mountain climbing, repelling, hiking, rowing, and just about anything you can imagine using a board, from surfing to skateboarding to gliding over and through the snow. Pick your poison. In reality, if you’re out of shape, you have no one to blame but yourself.

The same applies increasingly to training the mind: Mental fitness. With fears of Alzheimer’s, dementia and similar disabilities looming, particularly as we grow older, all manner of strategies have been developed to “exercise” our gray matter. For a long time we’ve had crossword puzzles, anagrams, riddles and word-finds, and now we’ve also got Sudoku, computer games, smart phone apps like Lumosity, and an ever-growing assortment of other helpful tools.

So how many words and facts and memories can you “bench-press”?

We spend a lot of time trying to shape and tone our bodies and minds – at least we plan to do that. But how much time and effort do we devote to spiritual training? As the Bible wisely points out, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, building promises for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).

That’s not to disparage the value of physical fitness, exercise, proper eating and other means for getting and staying healthy. After all, the Scriptures tell us, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him, for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Good reason for keeping our “temples” properly maintained.

But in addition to being physical, intellectual and emotional beings, we’re also spiritual in one respect or another. To deny that is to ignore an important facet of who we are and what we become. Ecclesiastes 3:11 states God has, “also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” God wants us to know this life is not the end, but merely a “preview of coming attractions,” so to speak.

What should a spiritual fitness regimen look like? Some might endorse rigid rules and regulations, but what the Lord describes in the Scriptures is a daily, continual relationship. For instance, we’re told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Rather than waiting for a specific time, place and posture to talk with God, we can remain in constant contact with Him – at work or at school (no separation of church and state from His point of view), in an intense business meeting, in the car, on a playing field, or in the midst of a picnic with family and friends.

It’s curious that the Bible is regarded the least-read bestseller among all books. This isn’t the way God intends, as He repeats throughout the Old and New testaments. Bibles aren’t designed to take up bookshelf space. The truths they contain are to fill our minds and prepare us for the rigors and challenges of daily living.

For instance, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you will be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8). Study it, think about it – and think about it some more. Then act on it.

The Scriptures also admonish disciples of Jesus to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Later in the same passage it states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man (and woman) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

In the Psalms we find this advice that applies to every person professing to know and follow Christ: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9-11).

Aiming for physical fitness and the proper weight? Great. Wanting to keep your mind sharp as long as you have breath? Excellent. But if you’re not diligently pursuing spiritual fitness, in ways such as described above, you might be neglecting the most important facet of all.

When should you start? How about now?