Happy New Year!! Even if you were up late last night and partied hearty and you are an adult, here is what your body goes through in just 24 hours on this first day of the New Year and every day as well —
- Your heart beats 103,689 times.
- Your blood travels 168,000,000 miles.
- You breathe 23,040 times.
- You inhale 438 cubic feet of air.
- You eat 3.25 pounds of food (Hopefully not too much more today).
- You drink 2.9 quarts of liquids.
- You lose 7/8 pound of waste.
- You speak 4,800 words, including some unnecessary ones.
- You move 750 muscles.
- Your nails grow .000046 inch.
- Your hair grows .01714 inch.
- You exercise 7,000,000 brain cells.
This is what God has blessed you and me with in our bodies today and every day of our lives. God has also embedded a precious, eternal soul in each of our bodies.
Along with what is happening to our physical bodies, this true story comes to my mind as we begin a New Year, 2022…..
A woman in the hospital was weeping after being told she was terminally ill with cancer.
When a friend sought to console her she replied, “I’m not weeping because I’m dying. I’m weeping because I never lived.”
The awareness of limits and wasted time means we can take up a conscious stance with regard to our own inevitable mortality. It is this mature insight that will protect us from slavishly following what our present culture wants us to believe and to do. All too often we squander our time in seeking the approval of others by conforming to their lifestyle and values rather than doing what is right.
God the Father created this magnificent body of ours. The Father sent us his Son Jesus so that we might learn how to live the right way and to love others as much as we love ourselves. The Holy Spirit comes to us to enliven and to strengthen us, so that we might enjoy our lives to the fullest.
What are YOU doing in 2022 to not waste or squander YOUR time?
DEAR GOD, MY PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR IS A FAT BANK ACCOUNT AND A THIN BODY. PLEASE DON’T MIX THESE UP LIKE YOU DID LAST YEAR!
HAVE A BLESSED 2022!!! Fr. Med Laz
