People have noticed that John has lost weight. This did not happen by accident, such as forgetting to eat for three months. Instead he has been faithful about incorporating exercise into his routine for the past year. Plus there is a shocking absence of dessert at our house. There are, I am glad to report, weeks when the appeal for such delicacies retreats to the point that I don't miss them. 

 

One of the components of his efforts is planking. With a straight back he goes up and down like one of those bridges that either allow or discourage traffic across a waterway. I don't join in the fun. I just watch. Which is why he has had more success than I have. 

 

Church this week was about planks. Not the whole body endeavor, but the six feet of timber variety. The minister handed out mini versions, that were probably marketed as kindling. But most of us are reluctant to start a fire in July. The sight of him offering to lean into someone's face who has been violated by a speck when his own vision was obscured by ten inches of wood was comical. 

 

I suppose such spiritual vitality does not arrive by accident. Sadly, we do not simply forget to be snarky. I aspire to a time when I lose my appetite for it entirely. It seems likely that exercising that spiritual muscle, the one that resists judgment, will enable me to cross to shores I could not get to any other way. Then I won't need kindling to keep warm. Love will do a fine job. 

 

 

“Judge  not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7