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Sweating in the Spirit: Part One
Whole-person education inspires ORU alumni to get physical
By Laura B. Raphael
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There they are, talking about their latest achievements as bestselling authors, or missionary doctors, or successful business leaders, and they'll oh-so-casually mention that they are still continuing the "body" portion of the mind-spirit-body education they began at ORU.
"Make sure everyone knows I'm still running three times a week!"
"I'm still collecting my aerobics points! I get on the exercise bike every morning!"
"My body is still my temple! I strictly follow the 'Garden of Eden' diet!"
This inclination to blurt out exercise routines and diet recommendations makes us think that ORU's whole-person emphasis has been rather effective. Which is one reason we decided to present just a few "aerobics snapshots" of various alumni around the country.
First in our series, Sheri Ayers Wiese 96...
"You can have Victory in spirit, soul, AND body!"
Sheri Ayers Wiese was physically active long before she came to ORU in the early 1990s. But she didn't really think of her body as an instrument of God until she arrived at the Tulsa campus.
"The idea that taking care of your body was God's will was an absolutely new concept to me," Wiese says. "Even though I was very physically active before coming to ORU, I never thought about what it meant to me as a Christian or how important [fitness] was to developing myself as a whole person."
Though this was a new concept, it didn't take long before 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 was a central part of Wiese's outlook. After graduation, she became a pharmaceutical sales rep by day and an aerobics instructor by night. "I definitely surpassed my aerobics points!" she laughs, recollecting the four or five classes she regularly taught per week until recently, when she became pregnant with her first child. (She is due in late September.)
Indeed, it was Wiese's interest in connecting exercise with God that has led to an interesting side business: developing Christian fitness videos.
"I was using different popular videos--Tae Bo, Denise Austin, and some others--but they were secular, and I really was looking for a Christ-centered workout," Wiese says. "To tell you the truth, when I went looking, I could not find any quality Christian videos on the market. That's when I decided to do my own."
Bodies for Christ (www.bodiesforchrist.com) offers two videos--one firming and sculpting, one cardiovascular--with the ultimate purpose of helping individuals become whole in spirit, body, and soul. While secular videos focus solely on developing muscle mass and improving blood flow, Wiese's videos add the extra dimension of doing those things for a greater spiritual purpose.
"So many Christians today are hurting because they don't treat [their] bodies like temples, making them tired, sick, and depressed," Wiese says. "When you feel that way, it's hard to love yourself, much less others, as Jesus commands us to do."
Her videos, which incorporate regular "Faith Breaks"--readings of motivational scriptures--have been very successful, particularly with church groups interested in offering fitness classes. "The obesity rate in our country is just appalling. People really want to change. I thought, you know, the way we change our habits in every other part of our lives is through the Word--why not this, too?"
Wiese attributes her belief in the body-spirit connection to her days at ORU, and how she saw the focused attention on health help college friends. "I saw a lot of people transformed at ORU," Wiese says. "They found victory in spirit, soul, AND body! I'm not saying you're not saved if you don't have an exercise program--that's ridiculous--but I am saying that, as Christians, we have a responsibility to take care of our bodies so we can fulfill God's purpose for us on earth. That's what it's all about, isn't it?"
If you would like to be considered for a "Fitness Profile," please e-mail Debbie George at dgeorge@oru.edu or call 918/495-6604.
