Paul, of course, is writing to particular people in a particular context.  There are certain non-repeatable realities at play in first-century Corinth.  It is clear from the context of 2 Corinthians 4 that Paul and other Christians are experiencing a real “wasting away” of the body/outer self because of persecution and hard work.  At the same time, these many years later, we know (or are learning) what it feels like for our bodies to betray us, even if only from the normal wear-and-tear of life.  But what if the second half of the equation has changed?  What if, instead of daily renewal, we experience a kind of loss in the inner self?  Oswald Chambers, I think, called it “spiritual leakage” that you just don’t notice because the damage is subtle.  What if we have no real sense of the “eternal weight of glory” that we are being prepared for because our “theology of suffering” has itself suffered?  What if, in line with Ephraim Radner, our traversal of the Great Transition has left us with better physical health but with less ability to understand and nurture the necessary inner self?  What if our embrace of things transient has left us with little to no grasp of “the things that are unseen” and eternal?  And  how do we “redirect” ourselves in better ways that call us back to a daily renewal?