I’m not going to lie; this morning’s workout class HURT! 

It was the same, Monday-and-Wednesday class I do every week. The class is called Forever Fit and as the name clearly implies, it is clearly a workout class for OLD PEOPLE. So, you would think the instructor would be gentle with the 20 or so living fossils who show up faithfully at 9:00 a.m., trying (in vain) to keep one foot out of the grave.

You’d think so… wouldn’t you?

If so, you have clearly never met Pam. Pam’s goal every Monday and Wednesday seems to be to make as many grown men (and women) cry as she possibly can. I try to indulge her masochistic streak, but it makes no difference at all. We go straight from side planks to crunches without so much as a water break.

Ending the class huffing and puffing and sopping wet with sweat is nothing new for me. What made today’s torture session even worse, however, was the fact that I have just returned from a couple of weeks in the beautiful Pacific Northwest of the U.S. where Joan and I were able to visit family… one of whom is my 102-year-old stepmom Bette. It was a glorious time with activities that included seeing Bette, officiating at my niece’s wedding, and spending a few days with the best siblings in the world. We hung out in a house in Pacific City on the Oregon coast and laughed WAY too much. 

Even the weather – shockingly enough – was perfect. 

But of course, the thing that did NOT happen during our time away was anything even REMOTELY resembling the fun and games of Forever Fit class. Yes, I got out and walked every morning. And yes, I also made it to the top of the gigantic sand dune at Cape Kiwanda. (See photo) But did I exercise those intricate muscle groups Pam SO enjoys bringing pain to? Did I systematically work on my balance, or my cardio conditioning, or my flexibility during the time we were away?

No, no, and HECK no!

And as a result, my return to class this morning allowed me to experience a working definition of the word ENTROPY.  Entropy is a word I have borrowed from the world of physics. It is also, however, a word that exists in the world normal people live in. 

In a nutshell, entropy is the idea that anything not busy moving FORWARD, is busy moving BACKWARD. Or when it comes to health and fitness, we would say that if you are not actively working on gaining strength, balance, and flexibility, you are actively working on losing them. And the cruelest joke of all is that the older we humans get, the more rapidly entropy seems to exact its terrible toll.

 After class, as I sat there on the locker room bench rubbing Ben Gay into every muscle I could reach, a thought popped into my brain. It went something like this: “Is it possible that the principle of entropy can apply to other areas of life as well as to my body?”

Hmmmm. Like what, for example, you ask?

Like, can we experience emotional entropy? Or spiritual entropy? Can our relationships fall victim to the relentless, downward drag of the “E” word?

I suspect you have already figured out the answer before the Magical Reveal I’ve prepared here. The answer is YES! Of course! Entropy can ambush us in any context it chooses. It is the price we pay for the miraculous gift of living in a DYNAMIC universe! There is no “cruise control” button in any area of human existence… as much as I keep searching for it.

One of Jesus’ clearest articulations of his mission statement can be found in John 10:10 where we hear him say, “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly!” (John 10:10, NRSVU, emphasis mine.) Or as Willie Nelson might phrase it, “If you’re not busy living, you’re busy dying.”

The existence (and persistence) of entropy is one big reason I still find myself struggling with retired life… even here six years in. I am grateful as possible that I no longer have a job to report to every morning. At the same time, I am keenly aware that God still has a purpose in mind for me to fulfill. 

I am still a long way from figuring this thing out, but I will close here with this thought; battling entropy is not about filling your calendar with an insane number of tasks, volunteer gigs, pickleball games, and investment lectures. But it IS about continuing to live a life of growth, connection, and PURPOSE…

… Even when no one is paying you to do so. 

Abundant blessings;