Are you taking vitamins or needing surgery?

Confession:  I have several acquaintances on the whole foods, no processed anything, be completely awesome diet.  

I am not on that diet.

I'm getting older, so I'm having to watch what I'm eating more.  But I basically eat what I want to eat.  I work out on average three times a week, am in reasonable shape, and am as strong as I've ever been.  

I sure hope I don't need surgery.

Seriously.  Sometimes health stuff comes out of the blue for people, even those who eat nothing but organic spinach and pomegranates with oat flakes.  

There's a huge difference between taking a few vitamins and needing surgery.  They're both related to health.  But no one thinks they're the same.

Spiritually, the same is true.  Sometimes something pops up that demands an immediate, invasive, and possibly radical procedure.  A job gets lost.  A medical diagnosis comes.  A child walks away.  Death comes knocking.  Those all demand the kind of spiritual procedure that's gut-wrenching, calling for faith in the midst of trial and focus in the midst of a storm.  Things that pop up, emotions included, have to be handled in the right way but handled with a strong and steady hand.  Otherwise spiritual spirals are around the corner, causing some to never recover on this side of heaven.

And sometimes you need a little this and a little that, because you know it's allergy season and Vitamin C helps.  Like concentrated prayer, sustained Bible reading and reflection, fasting and Scripture memory, all vitamins which keep a soul healthy and moving ahead.

But don't miss the connection:  the latter helps the former.  Having a healthy body before surgery helps the body endure surgery.  Having a strong, vitamin-packed soul helps walk through the trials and fight off the temptations and distractions.  

So whether it's radical or simple, is there something you need to be doing today to ensure your spiritual health?

But that's just me thinking thoughts...