Food for the Soul

Why is it that we so often prioritize our bodies needs over our soul’s needs?
We are constantly being told how to care for your physical health. Our bodies need a steady and constant intake of food and water in order to function and be healthy. We need regular exercise to keep all parts active and moving and to care for our mental health. We need a regular amount of hours of sleep in order to allow our bodies and mind to function properly. These are all things we are explicitly and implicitly taught as we develop. There are countless studies and articles on how to achieve maximum physical health that are centered around food, exercise, and sleep.

As Christians we discuss at length how to care for our spiritual selves. We are given a wide variety of ways to worship, pray, and serve. We know how to seek relationship with God and with one another.

Taking care of our physical and spiritual selves is incredibly important. However, how often do we stop to think about how we feed our soul? Why is it that when doing life, time to feed the soul is the first thing to be crossed of a list of things to do in a day? We prioritize our physical and spiritual health, but what about our soul’s health?

I suppose that begs the question of “How do we care for our soul?” I’ve been reflecting on this quite a lot in the past year and I do not have all the answers. Or even any answers really. Not any that are able to be generalized and applicable to the masses. The only answers I have to those questions are directly related to my soul. Which makes sense.

Every soul is woven so specifically and intricately by God.  Everyone is 100% unrepeatable. Just as God intended. So how can the answer to feeding the soul be repeatable. In a Venn Diagram of two individuals there might be some crossover of “foods” for their soul but my guess would be only 25% would be put in the middle. It is important to also note that many things we do to care for our physical, mental, and spiritual self also feeds our soul. If that is the case, then we simply need to be intentional in those tasks and acknowledge our soul. But, we should still stop and think about what our souls need in a specific and detailed way.

So Church here is my challenge to you. Over the next few days or weeks or however long it takes you, answer the following questions: How do you feed your soul? How often do you feed your soul? How often do you prioritize other tasks over feeding your soul? What does your soul crave?

Once you have your answer, make a commitment to yourself: “I will dedicate x amount of time to feeding my soul per day. If I ever need to cross something off my list of things to do it will not be my soul time.”
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Good luck!

PS. If you haven't watched Pixar's Soul yet, do it! 

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Aline Santos