Pounds and Prayer Life

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via Flickr

Yesterday's post about life on "automatic" took me farther into the field of prayer's positive affects on my daily living and a another kooky train of thought began to develop as I continued to write in my journal.  The thought? -  that my prayer life, as well as my daily caloric intake, can both either benefit my well being or not.  I would suggest that a regular prayer life feeds my soul, my mind, my heart and all parts of my human being.  It can bring me peace, reflection, change, and lead me in the paths of Christianity that I find healthy and tolerable - meaning following in the path of God's redeeming love in all decision making and human interaction.

The same with caloric intake, except I stop short with this concept in the path of God's redeeming love - but wait, maybe not.  Doesn't the gospel tell me that my body is a temple that should be protected and honored with diligence and moderation?............well, it tells me something like that, so watching my caloric intake could be following in the path of God's redeeming love also, huh?

Really, caloric intake is one aspect of feeding one's body properly.  Another aspect of that caloric intake is dieting.  With all of the amazing food and drink available in today's world why would I hold back and not indulge in whatever I want, whenever and as often as I want?  Dark chocolate, handmade chocolate truffles spring to mind......yum!  But why do I stop short of over-dosing on those beautiful little creations?  For one thing, I perceive that I feel better and my body functions better when it is operating at a reasonable weight for my age and frame.  Vanity tells me that I look better adhering to healthy weight recommendations. 

Here's the point of this chatter - believing my physical and mental health depend on exercise, healthy caloric intake, and the proper amount of sleep, how crazy would I be to just ignore these medical pointers?  Also, believing that blood pressure, diabetes, head and muscle aches, as well as some forms of depression, busted knees and backaches can be relieved through proper dieting and exercise.........o.k. you've got that. 

IN THE SAME WAY, I believe that my physical body is affected by dietary discretion, I believe my spiritual life is dependent upon and coaxed into abundance by a routine plan of prayer, worship, and spiritual exercise.  Conversation with others about spirituality, concentration of effort when listening to sermons that might not be exactly what I want to hear, daily time for communing with God, my Creator, my Higher Power.  Let's consider that my "Christian Vanity" should be at play in this spiritual pilgrimage as well.  Why wouldn't I want my spirituality, my faith, my everyday actions be visible to those with whom I interact?  How much chance do I have of that reassurance if I choose to ignore the advice of centuries of theological reflection, never engage in personal disciplines of prayer or worship?  Isn't my inner appearance as important or even more important than my exterior facade?  Oh, I hope so, I pray so.

I step on the scale each morning and there's the truth registering down there close to my toes on the scale - over-indulgence, o.k., or just right, or maybe I need to "watch it" for a while as I've passed my mark for what I consider my personal well-being.  Wouldn't it be great if there was a similar scale on which we could step each a.m. that would show us where we register on God's scale, on our interpersonal relationship scale, on our quest to follow commandments of love and forgiveness?..........as far as I know that scale is not around yet, but isn't it worth the time to work on our inner vanity as much or indeed even more important to work on our projection as one of the many children of God we will meet in our day to day life?  What do you think - are your pounds or your prayer life living up to your own expectations - not to others' expectations - but to your own?