Paul and Pilates

Question: what does the apostle Paul have in common with Pilates?

Me, doing pilates.

Pilates was invented and refined by Joseph Pilates, a German gentleman who moved to England only to be interned by the authorities during the Great War.  He was imprisoned variously at Lancaster Prison - the castle - and later at Knockaloe on the Isle of Man.

He was already a wrestler and fascinated by fitness and yoga and how to stop people slouching.  In Lancaster Prison, in a very confined space, he was intent on not losing his physique or agility, and so in the tiny space of his cell he developed exercises to remain supple and lithe.  No equipment, no gym, no wide open space, and yet he prospered and introduced Pilates to the world.  

Not many people these days realise that Pilates is a German surname, but there you go.  Joseph Pilates did some of his best work in a very confined space.

And so did Paul the apostle.  When he was done tramping across Asia and being rioted at and caused of all sorts (go and read Acts 13-20 now!) he spent a long time in prison himself.  And it was there that Paul wrote a good portion of the New Testament.  Under close arrest, he would appear to have written those four stomping letters: Ephesians, Galatians, Colossians and Philemon.

Have you read them?  

• Ephesians - where Paul lets his theology fly and gives us that stunning image of the armour of God.
• Galatians - where his passion about the new life of Christians leads him to name nine fruits of the Spirit.
• Colossians - where he reminds us that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible Father God and invites us to put on Christ like a cloak.
• Philemon - a short letter where he imitates Jesus by paying the price for a saved lost soul, and invites one man beyond his comfort zone.

To be fair, they're more exciting than that middle portion of Acts (which is riveting enough in itself).

Like Pilates, Paul created some of his best stuff behind bars, under house arrest, stuck inside.

Can you see where this is going?

I don't know how much social distancing you're doing just now.  I don't know whether you're effectively on lockdown, and I don't know whether or when I will be either.  There is a sense of horizons narrowing and possibilities diminishing.  I won't pretend it's not challenging.  I was stuck at home with post-viral fatigue and a month of rain after Christmas, and I can get very down about that.  

But there are possibilities.  While Paul wasn't in prison he declared that "God works in all things for the good of those who love him."  So when he found himself stuck within four walls, he must have had listless days, but he basically knuckled down to making sure those days weren't wasted.  He mined and thought until he figured out how God wanted him to use his days when he couldn't do exactly what he wanted.  And we trust that God moved him to write, and we have those words here to keep us faithful in our straitened times:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us in the heavenly realm 

with every spiritual blessing in Christ!" 

- Ephesians 1:3, written behind bars...

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  

Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves 

be burdened by a yoke of slavery." 

- Galatians 5:1, written when Paul seemed anything but free...

"I am confident of this, 

that God who began a good work in you 

will carry it on to completion 

until the day of Jesus Christ." 

- Colossians 1:6, even though he knew he would probably never see these people again...

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, 

so that you will have a full understanding 

of every good thing we have in Christ." 

- Philemon 6, still under guard.

Times aren't always what they seem.  God works in even the hardest days to grow us.  Nothing is wasted in God's wise wise economy.  He may not have sent coronavirus our way, but he will make sure that some great good comes out of it.

So what might we - you - do while we are on lockdown? This is the best opportunity in a generation to learn to pray, to try something new from our armchairs, to open up the Bible and make some progress through it.  My friend is learning to play the trumpet while his schooling is off.  More spiritual pastimes are available.

God help his mother.

Other people have written Don Quixote, De Profundis, Pilgrim's Progress, One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich and Orange Is The New Black, all while deprived of the liberties and horizons they had previously enjoyed.

So yes.  Pick up a pen or turn off Tipping Point and write a poem.  Try pilates.  Find a new way to pray so that when coronavirus restrictions are lifted, we don't just go back to how we were but instead emerge with something new to show for it: a novel or a newfound passion for Ignatian prayer...

God cannot be limited, and God will not see time wasted.  Shall we join him in doing something new?