Nelson column: Sweating it out

We all know what it means to "sweat something out." It's a phrase that implies that a lot of hard work was required to get a difficult job done. Sometimes it is used to describe a condition that is akin to a lot of worrying.

Recently a tragic event took place at the Angel Valley Resort in Arizona. It was billed as a "Spiritual Warrior Retreat" and led by James Arthur Ray, a well- known self-help guru. Sixty-four persons from varying backgrounds, for the most part well educated, gathered for a week long retreat. It was supposed to help the participants discover new insights about themselves and life. It was to be a purifying experience that would bring about a spiritual awakening in those who participated.

The culmination of the event was a two-hour session in a "sweat lodge" that was patterned after an ancient native American ritual of literally "sweating it out" as a rite of purging oneself of negatives, weaknesses, and shortcomings. Participants would be better persons after this experience of mind-altering breathing exercises, scheduled fasting, and sleep deprivation. Those attending willingly paid over $9,000 each to participate.

But something went horribly wrong. After "sweating it out," 21 people had to be hospitalized and three died. The "Sweat Lodge" was flawed. The depleted oxygen, the hot steam and the crowded conditions were all contributing factors to this tragedy.

What seems doubly tragic about this whole episode is that people will go to these extreme ends to somehow experience a cleansing, cathartic, renewing spiritual awakening. Obviously, those who attended felt something in their lives was lacking. They desired to discover true insight and meaning for their apparently hollow lives. Education, experience, health and means did not do it for them. They seemed to long for something more.

The Christian faith has proclaimed through the ages that there is something more to our existence. It is not an exercise. It is not a secret. It is not a regimen. It is not a chore.

It is simply an acceptance that God through Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to come to a spiritual enlightenment and awakening. There is no "sweating it out" in order that we might receive it. Christians accept that Jesus has done that for them. Christ bore the negatives, the pain, the evil, the death, and the meaninglessness of our existence for us. In so doing, he gave us meaning, purpose, grace, and love. He provided an avenue for each one of us to be freed from the chains that would constrict us. We do not have to purify ourselves to find wholeness, for He has done it for us.

The Christian faith has always encouraged its followers to experience an awakening that is directed by the Holy Spirit to affirm the cleansing and saving grace that God, himself, has given to us through the sacrifice of his very son, Jesus the Christ. "Sweating it out" on our behalf was the work of Jesus in his earthly ministry that eventually took him to the cross. He endured "sweating it out" so that we could experience that refreshing sense of wholeness and liberation for our lives.

In John 10:10, Jesus said: "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." There is no need for us to try to "sweat it out" for ourselves. How wonderful it is that we have a gracious Lord who does not sponsor "sweat lodges" for us to endure in order that we might find our true purpose and meaning in this existence.

Dr. David Nelson is a retired Lutheran pastor.