Hermas (an early Christian document) You have become old in spirit and are already dying, and have no strength anymore. You have become enervated by the affairs of daily life and fallen into lethargy just like old men who, once they have given up all hope of regaining strength, expect nothing but to fall asleep. But if you repent, you will become quite new again.
I wrote a couple of days ago about numbing the soul. As often happens, afterwards I ran across this teaching from The Shepherd of Hermas. What an analogy for what happens when we let the world intrude into our soul, our spirit.
But we have a choice.
We can choose a different direction for our lives, our thinking, our outlook, our focus. The ancient Christian word is repent. In the simple terms I prefer, it means we were going down one path and decided to change and choose another path.
When we follow that pithy advice of the Last Crusader in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “choose wisely”, we choose the path that gives us life. Not that life of someday in heaven that some mistakenly think, but life starting now. We will “become quite new again.”
If you have made that choice, you understand. If you have not, try it. It literally does change our lives.
Faith Venture 
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