Matt W Cook

I’m sitting here in a puddle of my own sweat. I can’t believe how hot it gets these days. I don’t remember it being this bad last year. It’s like being in a massive sauna that has no door. Yucky. It also brings to mind the tragic connection that seems to exist between the physical and the spiritual. I imagine that originally that connection would have been complementary, but that’s all screwed up now and the high temperature outside is sucking away my desire for Good Things inside.

How hot is it? Lemme give you a little illustration. This morning I was sitting in my favorite chair reading my favorite book. Suddenly I hear a massive electrical sound above me and I saw fire falling all around me. I leaped up and away and looked to see that the circuit box three feet from my head had burst into horrible flames! With much fear and intrepidation I was able to switch off the power and get the fire out. What was the cause of the fire? Melting wires. Melting wires!? The heat of the day combined with the current running through the wires and actually melted the insulation off.

So I’ve been thinking these days of ways to battle the fleshy, fatal tendancy to follow my homocidal heart. I read a wonderful story in Pilgrim’s Progress today that helped me a lot. It was the scene in the Interpreter’s house where Pilgrim sees the enterance to a glorious place with glorious people walking around inside. Many were standing around wanting to enter in but a slew of armed men were determined to keep them out. One by one all the folks who wanted in started to leave. Then a new man arrive. He walked up to the clerk who was taking the names of all those who wanted in and said, “Put my name down, sir.” He then put on his helmet, drew his sword and plunged into battle. After giving and receiving many wounds he arrived at his goal where he was healed and happy for the rest of existence.

Ya gotta fight. You gotta put on that helmet that reminds you of the certainty of your salvation, whip out your sword and do mortal combat against those desires and inclinations that would prevent you from entering into joy. What about when you get tired? You pray and fight. And when you get wounded? You pray and fight. And when it’s seven degrees hotter than hell? You pray and fight, realizing that what is at stake is far too important to shrug off because of a few difficults and inconvinces.

So that’s what has been on my mind these days. Fighting when there seems to be no strength to fight. The nice thing about our fight is that so long as we fight there is no way we can lose.