Rule #1: No Other Idols
I didn’t think I had a problem with this commandment. One of the few I thought I was good to go with. After all I was born and raised as a good Catholic boy (albeit now a good converted Protestant boy) and I was never even tempted to dabble in the Occult or other strange followings, eastern religions or even ‘self-actualization’ or humanism. So, no problem with worshiping ‘other idols’; right?
It wasn’t until after my stroke in 2019 that I came to realize just how much I ‘worshiped’, and the high value I placed on my BODY. Because when you lose it –or its normal, taken-for-granted functioning, that you quickly learn just how much you depend on something, and how much you CARE about it…elevating it above all else.
I once was an athlete –not a star athlete by any means—but active in many sports throughout my youth and into adulthood. It was a major part of my life…and identity. So back in 1989, when I had a detached retina, and subsequent surgery, I lost my ability to see straight. My two eyes had such different focal lengths, that all things that required eye/hand coordination and depth perception were over for me. Dramatic double vision even made it hard to drive a car.
Then with a heart attack at 48 and 54, I realized that other outdoor activities that required a great amount of stress on my body were ill-advised. And these things were a major part of my life too.
Finally (not that I’m thick-headed or anything), God really got my attention in April of 2019. I had a serious life-altering experience when I had a short circuit in my brain and lost motor skills to the right half of my body. Walking, talking, sitting, standing and anything that required two functioning hands and arms were all now a problem. We were made, by the way, to need two functioning, coordinated halves. In addition, I found out that day that I had Diabetes and would have to dramatically change from almost everything that I liked to eat to stuff I did not….and less of it too boot.
That’s when you find out what you hold up as ‘most important’ (aka an IDOL) in your life, over the God that created you in the first place. At first I didn’t get that. I didn’t think that I ‘worshipped’ my body. I may have spent the majority of my time using, abusing and taking it for granted….but WORSHIPPING it as an IDOL? That’s a bit too much. Trust me, what you give all your time and attention to –consciously or unconsciously,-that’s where your heart is. Upon reflection, I see how it had first place in my life. I see how I gave God what time and attentions I had leftover. My time, my life, and my actions were dominated by my physical wants and needs. It became SO much more emphasized than my relationship and time spent with God. I wish I could say I am over that completely.
They say you don’t know what you got until its gone; and that became a truth or reality to me. It was more than a reality check. It was a ‘priorities’ check. What was essential and had eternal significance . When every breath or bite of food is now appreciated as a gift and valued, it gives you perspective. Walking and talking are not guaranteed. Cognitive thought processing is not assured. Needing help to put on your pants and socks and shoes on can be humbling as well as a profound learning experience. You can go forward or retreat into self-pity. I took it as a paradigm-shift.
The bible says; “what the devil meant for harm, God turns into something for good”. Yes it was a major setback, but also a major reboot, or restart to what’s important to my life. LOVE: given or received.