I had my annual physical checkup this last week. The doctor did all the usual things. He checked my vital signs -- I still have them, thank you -- and poked and prodded various parts of my body to make sure nothing was going wrong under cover, so to speak. He ordered a series of tests, to ensure he hadn’t overlooked anything. He asked questions. And he took time to listen to me. To hear what I might have observed about the way my own body functions. After all, I live with it every day. But I don’t always know whether that mole is significant, or how to reduce the pain in my big toe. Basically, I learned that I am still in good shape. For my age, at least. I can expect a few more years of reasonable health. In grocery terms, though, my shelf life is limited. And I have certainly passed my “best before” date. Occasionally, I read that an annual physical is a waste of time. It may be even hazardous. Apparently, the incidence of heart attacks, strokes, and aneurysms rises after a medical examination. Maybe so. But I still want that annual checkup. I want to know what might be going wrong, before it’s too late to do anything about it.
Other kinds of checkups
I also need other kinds of annual checkups. I do get an economic checkup periodically. I keep track of our investments. I know if we spend more than we need, cutting into the funds to sustain us for our remaining years. An investment advisor regularly sits down with us to evaluate our financial well-being. But what about my emotional well-being? I have no such thing as an annual emotional checkup. People ask, “How are you?” Or, “How are you feeling these days?” But it’s a courtesy, as meaningless as the supermarket cashier who tells every customer, “Have a great day!” If I take her seriously, a detailed description of my feelings causes the questioner’s eyes to glaze over. She looks for someone else to talk to. Anyone. The other day, a friend asked, “So what do you think our civilization these days?” “Doomed,” I replied. Both question and answer were light-hearted. But he heard something more: “That doesn’t sound like the Jim Taylor I know,” he said. So I probably need an occasional emotional checkup. It’s not something I can do for myself -- my own feelings will inevitably colour my perception of those feelings. And how about a spiritual checkup? Many people might not even consider a spiritual checkup important. And what would one check for , anyway -- adherence to a defined set of beliefs? Memorized responses to a catechism? No, it’s not about whether I believe the right things. It’s about how what I believe affects how I live.
Deepest convictions
A spiritual checkup would probe my deepest convictions. Why am I here? How did I get here? What am I supposed to do about it? Those convictions affect how I relate to my family and my friends. How I spend my money. What I do with my time. How I treat my environment. Don’t confuse those convictions with conventional religion. They may -- or may not -- relate to my professed beliefs in God or my connection with a church. If the kind of God I believe in influences the way I deal with fossil fuels, human rights, and income disparities, good. But if I don’t believe in God, I still have to deal with those issues. And if the kind of God I believe in doesn’t affect those decisions, why should I bother believing in Him? Or Her -- whatever. These checkups require more than just head knowledge. They require sensitivity to me. I don’t want a medical checkup from someone promoting her own quack cures. I don’t want an economic checkup from a shill for his own mutual funds. In the same way, spiritual and emotional checkups would require, I guess, someone with extensive insights into theology and psychology, but free of cookie-cutter solutions. Jesus is not the answer, if you haven’t heard the question. Nor is Freud. As a milestone birthday hurtles towards me, and as I realize that the road ahead of me is much shorter than the road behind, I feel an increasing need to know that I’m on the right road. Or at least, on the road I want to be on. Aha! That’s what I need to extend my shelf-life -- a map reader!
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Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca
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YOUR TURN
Last week’s column was partly about the Rio Olympics, and partly about the mosquitoes that caused a number to athletes to stay away. Tom Watson dealt with both issues: “The question Maclean's raises is easy for me to answer. The Olympics are a competition between nations that happens to involve athletes...and also huge sums of money. That's why I have been disinterested for quite some time. “I'd like also to be disinterested in mosquitoes, as I'm allergic to their histamine, but have to choose: either go to our summer trailer in the beautiful Muskoka area of Ontario and put up with the little beasties, or avoid them altogether. “I can only wish that avoiding mosquitoes was as easy as avoiding the Olympics. Sigh.”
Isabel Gibson focussed on the ethics of eliminating mosquitoes: “I know of no technology that people have developed and then not used, for good and for evil. Smithsonian Magazine recently had an article on the possibility of eliminating mosquitoes, citing the facts you do -- its amazing success at killing people. “As for the Olympics, I agree entirely. I love the stories about Canadian athletes -- but every country has its own stories.” The Smithsonian article is long but worth reading: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/kill-allmosquitos-180959069/?no-ist
John Shaffer A wrote, “Somewhere I read a commentary on what the world would be like without mosquitoes. Lots of birds and bats survive on eating them. They should eat more.”
The Smithsonian article (above) also notes that mosquitoes are the primary pollinators in the Arctic, where bees cannot survive.
Helen Arnott corrected me: “There are many reasons not to give blood, but having malaria is not one of them. Call the Canadian Blood Services to check it out. I, too, have had malaria, and have given many blood donations years after the last recurrence. You may no longer be legible because of age, low hemoglobin, etc., but not because of having had malaria.”
Mary Faith Blackburn wrote from Grande Prairie, AB, which has a lot of mosquitoes: “This morning our 5 year old grand-daughter chose to dress in long pants, socks, t-shirt, and jacket to protect herself from the mosquitoes, ‘cause they bother me a lot, Nana’. Yesterday she got a mosquito bite on her arm that swelled up and itched a lot. “Sometimes I want to cover myself well, ‘cause the changes in the world bother me a lot’. Progress is both helpful and frightening.”
Jane Wallbrown wrote from India (where I had naively assumed that Olympic mania would be less): “You wrote about the importance of the medal count above the athletes. I was in Vancouver during the Winter Olympics. It was my first experience of being amidst a group of people who REALLY were into the medal count each and every day. “In the US I rarely watched any Olympics with anyone else, but it seemed that, via TV, Olympics...both winter and summer....were a way to get national feelings of togetherness. THAT seems rare in today's world and especially now with our ridiculous national election. It was a relief to watch a news conference of Obama's where athletes were praised and everyone was backing our athletes…! “Maybe our Olympics will be one of our last remaining ways of feeling together? I found my daughter-inlaw hunched over her iPhone.....as usual. Suddenly she raised a fist in the air and yelled, "Yes!" An Indian woman had won gold for a relay team race. Was it India's first medal? I wouldn't know how many they receive during these events. “You're right. I'm proud when USA comes out with a lot. Hope they will this time then I can say to a few of my Republican friends, ‘See? Our country isn't totally going to the dogs!’”
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com. If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. You can access several years of archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net. I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedgessubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca
PROMOTION STUFF… Ralph Milton has a new project, called Sing Hallelujah – the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.com Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://www.hymnsight.ca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.) Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca> Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town – not particularly religious, but fun; alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” – ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatso@gmail.com or twatson@sentex.net
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