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Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

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Causten Meaux holds weights at 360 Fitness in Athens.

Causten Meaux holds weights at 360 Fitness in Athens.

Causten Meaux – minister, veteran, author, and friend – has intertwined spirituality into many facets of his life, from the preservation of his mental health to the continuance of him being in top physical shape.

Meaux is now an associate minister of the New Life Church in Athens, located off of Hine Street.

“God sent me to it. It was my assignment,” he said. “It took me a lot of pain to get there, and it took me a lot of steps to get there. Almost the first day, I knew God had put it in my life (for a reason).”

A Vietnam veteran, he was a member of the 101st Airborne, a light infantry division of the United States Army specializing in air tactics, wearing his cap with great pride each day.

It is this desire to join the military that he found great comfort in exercising and getting in shape.

While joining the military can certainly not be described as comfortable, it did provide him with a peace of being in tip-top shape; a transformation of his former 16-year old self.

“It all starts about when I was 16-years old, asthmatic, could not run two steps. I saw my brother come in from the service, he was 101st Airborne, and I said, ‘I am going to start training, Lord, you are going to have to help me,’” Meaux said. “What I saw him do, it gave me the drive to build myself. That was the beginning, trying to lift concrete blocks, things like that. I think I weighed 140-something pounds.”

Originally from Harrisburg, Ky., Meaux would leave his home for Fort Knox, before being stationed at Fort Campbell and being shipped out to Vietnam.

Now, later in life, Meaux has found further peace in exercise, emphasizing the spiritual nature of physical well-being.

While some of this is certainly tied into the teachings that “my body is a temple,” much of it is also tied into finding peace in meditation through exercise and peace through physical well-being. Much of it is religious, but some of it could be described as “spiritual.”

Meaux has been a part of the Athens community since 2000, saying he had some connections to this part of the state.

“I knew some people from Limestone County because my sister married a native of Athens,” he said. “So we had relationships here, so after I got out of the service, I got married. I tell a lot about that in the book.”

The book he is referring to is his published work: “Spoken Meditation from the Heart.” This piece talks about his spirituality and how it has found peace in life.

One way he has done that is through exercise. He now spends his workout time at 360 Fitness in Athens, where he participates in weight-training and workouts without weights, as well. This includes curling, dumb bells, military pushups as well as cardio, among other things.

“It basically tells my whole life story. The book is based on episodes of life,” he says. “You can read the same thing today, and go back and read the same thing tomorrow, and you will get a different feeling of what you just read,” much like how an individual would perceive a daily devotional.

In addition to his latest book, Meaux said he will also be writing and publishing his autobiography — conniving to share his journey with others.

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Alice Reba Garner, age 88 of Athens passed away peacefully on Wednesday June 29th, 2022. She was born on May 23rd, 1934 in Morgan County, Alabama to Druid Jarrett and Eva Steele Jarrett. She is preceded in death by her parents, sister Geraldine King and brother Bobby Ray Jarrett. Mrs. Garner…

Carolyn Coleman Haynes, 86 of Athens, Alabama, passed away Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at Limestone Nursing and Rehab. Mrs. Haynes was born August 7, 1935 in Limestone County to the late O'Neal Coleman and Syble Oaks Coleman. Family and friends are invited to attend her service at Spry Funeral …

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First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.