Movement

The body is made to move within it's range of motion. A motion's duration depends on how stacked a body is. Stacked, meaning how the body functions as a whole. For example, flipping a 300kg tire requires the upper body to lock-out while the lower body does the majority of the lifting. Any break in the tension between the hands gripping the tire, the elbows, shoulders and chest position cause the tire to become an immovable object. No matter how large the lifters physique, moving the tire requires proper alignment. Proper alignment is hard; dysfunctional alignment is much easier.

Dysfunctional alignment is simple, part of the body compensates for another part that is injured or misaligned. Dysfunctional alignment works for a time. The duration of its function depends on how big the dysfunction is. Small dysfunctions, which can be easily corrected if caught early, usually result in little discomfort. But the longer a small dysfunction takes place, the greater change it has to become a bigger dysfunction. That's the law of compensation. Once compensation begins, it has to be confronted before it will change; there has to be a will and a knowledge of what and how to change.

Most of the time, we are only aware of a dysfunction once it becomes painful. Small dysfunctions can be lived with because we don't often push ourselves to our limits; we like to stay within our comfortable boundaries, but outside our boundaries we discover truth. We test our knowledge of movement, to see if our constructed theories function in the real world. The truth about our theories? If they are stacked on fundamental truth and properly aligned, they will hold. If they are not, then our dysfunctions will surface. Pain, or lack thereof, is a good indicator of proper alignment.

Yet as we talk about the physical, the social world doesn't always adhere to proper alignment. Often times it follows the law of compensation, letting things get worse and worse while not address the underlying dysfunction; sometimes we prefer to numb our pain rather than let it heal properly.

When I think about the market for physical pain killers, I shake my head in disbelief. There is a time and a place for pain relief. But there is no such thing as vitamin A, T or I (Aleve, Advil, Tylenol or Ibuprofen) These pain relievers may help to reduce swelling, but taking them everyday is not the answer to pain. They simply let the pain get worse while we refuse to deal with the source.

So what is the source of our pain? Why do we push our bodies into dysfunction and misalignment? Sometimes it is unintentional, other times it is pursuit of the cure. Other times its in pursuit of money, or a relationship, an opportunity to win or get ahead of the competition. But are these movements, and are these actions justified?

If we look at history, we can point to times and places where dysfunction replaced health. It's usually toward the end of a people's existence; the end of their way of moving. Dysfunction always leads to the brink of annihilation. But before it goes, it often makes a final desperate attack on health. What happens when the healthy are pursued and struck down by dysfunction? What happens when dysfunction becomes the accepted norm?

King David lived in such times. Here is how he faced them; he cried out to God for deliverance.

Hear my prayer, O LORD;
give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
answer me in your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.

For the enemy has pursued me,
crushing my life to the ground,
making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit(breath) faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.

I remember days of old,
I think about your deeds,
I meditate on the works of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O LORD
 my spirit(breath) fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Save me, O LORD, from my enemies;
I have fled to you for refuge.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.

For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life.
In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries,
for I am your servant.


What I like about David's prayer, he doesn't base his plea on his own personal proper alignment. Instead he prays to be properly aligned, while those who are not (those who are pursuing him) to be brought to their end. David prays because God is aligned and fundamentally stacked on truth, and it is David's trust in God on which he bases his hope that the dysfunctional will not overtake him, but that instead their dysfunctions take their final course, so that health can be restored.