Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas

I was contemplating my current state of health when I waked up the stairs and noticed a package outside our front door. I opened the door, brought the package inside, opened it up and there was Every Body Matters. It was a book that I had off handedly put my name in to review for Zondervan and forgotten about. And here it was in my hands while I was wondering what to do about the fact that I feel like I’m getting old and falling apart. I’m so thankful that it showed up and that I took the chance to read.

The main principle in this book is that physical exercise can and should have purpose outside of losing weight or changing the look of our body. In fact, the purpose it can have is much closer to God than either of those. The purpose of activity to strengthen our body can be to strengthen our soul and increase our ability to say yes to God.

Thomas challenges the current ideas about taking care of our body and why we should do it and gives us a reason beyond vanity and health, to something that is potentially sustainable throughout our lives. This book has been extremely encouraging and challenging for me. I have been inspired to move more often and to say no to the impulses of my body in the hopes that one day soon, I’ll be able to say yes to something so much more.

Every Body Matters is not a chastising for a lack of activity, it is an invitation to a life much deeper and richer than we may currently be living. This is an eye opening, heart changing response to something that the world has made dull, boring and tedious. Taking care of ourselves is not some arduous task, but a challenge to discipline ourselves in the hopes of creating stronger souls as well as bodies.

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