Physical Reminders

Think about the flowers, how delicate they are with their beautiful symmetry and vibrant array of colors. Or consider your body, the intricacy of each individual cell and the complexity of how you live and move and have your being.

The physical world ought to be a constant reminder of God’s presence. We are both immaterial and material, spirit and body. Because of this, what we do with our body affects our spiritual life.

The physical category in A Guide to Practicing God’s Presence recognizes that we are physical beings who need physical reminders. Tangible reminders—a verse on a notecard, a memento, a book—remind us of spiritual truth.

This is especially important in our digital age. Holding a physical object engages our senses and causes us to reflect on who and what we are. For example, reading a book gives us the scent of the pages, its weight in our hands. Having a physical copy encourages us to think deeply and interact with the ideas in the book, perhaps even writing our own thoughts in the margins.

When you choose a physical exercise, don’t give in to distractions. So many things clamor for our attention, grounding our focus in the temporal and material rather than the eternal and spiritual. But the physical world ought to reorient our perspective. Don’t take movement or creation or even life itself for granted, but let the physical world fill you with wonder for your Creator.

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Looking for a physical copy of a book to read? Purchase one from the Eternal Perspective Trilogy: Rewriting Your Broken Story, Life in the Presence of God, and Shaped by Suffering.

Click here for more information about Ken’s Friday morning study, including archived videos.