In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verse 3 Jesus counsels that we are to become as little children. The past couple of nights, when I kneel down with Miles to say his bedtime prayers this is what I have heard:
"Thank thee for my elbow bending. Thank thee for my head. Thank thee for my back. Thank thee my owie is better. Thank thee for my bum so I can go potty. Thanks the for my fingers. Thank thee for my mouth to eat and talk..."
This made me stop and think. Do I express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for my body, even through the pain, the illness, and other things it subjects me to? Do I reflect on how amazing it is that my body can heal itself when I get a cut? Do I revel in the fact that sleep rejuvenates me? What about being able to type, write, walk, eat, see, hear, etc? In 1 Corinthians, Paul counsels that we are temples. Do I treat my body as a temple? Do you?
I used to teach music to the children at church. One of the songs I was blessed to teach them is called "The Lord Gave Me A Temple." It popped into my head as I was praying last night, trying to "rectify" my not expressing gratitude for my physical body, even with its limitations, illnesses, frailties, etc. What a tender reminder of how important our physical bodies are.
Working in the medical field and Aaron working in the medical field give us opportunities to marvel at the human body. Elder Russell M. Nelson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a heart surgeon before becoming an apostle. Do you want to marvel at how amazing your body is? Read this: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=939
We have been given an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father to be able to have a body of flesh and bone. I know that I am going to strive more each day to remember the good things about this "temple" I have been given instead of dwelling on its cracks, nicks, and bruises. I hope you will too.
