Losing oneself in the divine,or vice versa

"³⁹Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:39

"⁷Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:7-10

I watched my school's swim team compete today at the AFC while I worked out. It was great to see the kids be so enthusiastic, especially when half of them were too young to actually compete at this meet. Our new swim coach from West Michigan is keeping those kids straight. (If you're snickering right now, it's because you have the dirty mind, not I.) It was a good feeling to be recognized and have my presence appreciated. But it was an even better feeling to know that I am part of a community that encourages its members.

I have lost 40 pounds since August. I've started eating more, since I have grown to enjoy the exercise. My BMI is finally 25, and I like it like that.

I bought the book Gorgon from Barnes & Noble with a gift certificate that I received from my students for Christmas.

I've been blogging for a year, and I no longer think about my whole life as a blogging opportunity. I don't like to blog about blogging, because the very idea itself is so cloyingly postmodern it makes me want to cry. I think blogging may have lost its novelty for me but retains its utility as a therapeutic tool.

"⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:5-11