So I meet my trainer and he turns out to be a nice guy with a peculiar accent and a very foreign-sounding name (I'll leave his true identity out of it, if you don't mind), which is okay with me personally but gets me wondering what his religions convictions are like. Training sessions are usually quite intense, so we don't get to chit-chat much about personal things, until September rolls around and he tells me that he is fasting for Ramadan. That cleared up the "religious conviction thing" pretty quickly, and we were able to talk a bit about Islam and contrast Christianity, but I haven't been able to outline the Gospel to him yet. But we've struck up a pretty good friendship and it should be easier to both talk to him about it and get time when it will be easier to talk about it [witnessing between reps can be difficult - "So (huff), do you (puff) consider your- (huff) -self to be (puff) a good (huff) per- (puff) -son?" "What? Sorry. I was counting your reps...4 more - PUSH IT!" ]
Another thing about the gym - and maybe every gym is like this but I'm only familiar with this one - is that the yoga stuff is pushed like it's mandatory. They have signs all over the place, sometimes advertising hindu teachers' seminars, and yoga for kids (!), when no other religion is at all noticeably present. (I know some people think that yoga is just an exercise routine, but even Hindu yogis will caution that the religious aspects and the exercise aspects cannot be separated. Some believe it is akin to "meat sacrificed to idols" and should be tolerated by Christians who don't choose to practice yoga, but it's much more like sacrificing the meat to the idols, which we are definitely not supposed to do) I think I need to address the situation sometime in the near future. I've already had to talk to my 7-year-old about what it really is when he was offered the kids yoga classes. Yikes!
Lastly, I've come to sense a strangeness about the gym atmosphere. This is all stuff that I hypothetically could be doing on my own, around the hose, and getting things done, but it would be much less directed. The cost of the trainer's appointments and the time and energy sunk into each one could arguably be better spent elsewhere. I am getting results, which is better than no results, but I find myself looking toward the time when can never go there again because of the atmosphere of physical vanity and the sense of running (or riding a bike, or climbing stairs, etc.) and never going anywhere. It seems almost metaphorical for current culture - always moving and never getting anywhere. So I feel like I need to break the cycle at some point and start something on my own to keep physically fit. It truly does tie into your mental and especially spiritual health.
This being my second post I'm sure not many people are reading it yet, but if you do and you'd like to feed back on any of these issues I'd like to hear from you. Please be advised about a few things, just so you'll know not to comment on them - I have no problem with a person who is a Muslim but I have a huge problem with the religion itself. The same thing for Hinduism and/or yoga practitioners. I have studied each very much over the past five years and have lots of resources if anyone wants more information about them. My take is that, without a truly repentant faith in Jesus Christ, everyone is lost in their sins, and that goes for many who call themselves 'Christians' as well. Also, if you are an active gym-user and get a lot out of it and find adequate time for everything else in your Christian walk, more power to you. I don't think the whole gym system is evil in and of itself, although maybe I'll elaborate on my changing feelings toward it in a future post. I'd like to hear your thoughts, though.
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