Recipe for the Soul

Joy is like the the flower in the garden.  It doesn't grow within us without cultivation, but when we seek to attain it despite all circumstances then what blossoms from within is utter Beauty.

     I wrote the above quote some time ago, and I really wanted to ponder it for a while.  In the past I have blogged about recipes for health and good living, but I can't help but think what is the "recipe for a healthy soul"?  Sure, joy is sometimes easy to attain in everyday life; spending precious time with our spouses, family and friends, watching our kids grow in each season of their lives, fun vacations,  relaxing time for ourselves, good food and wine are all on the top of my list and I'm sure everyone elses...but I wonder how many others continue to have a  joyful heart in the midst of the miseries and heartaches of life? We are all a product of genes, environment and the life circumstances that shape who we are.  Yet while some drown and try to drown others in the process, there are those who find a way to rise about it all and be survivors.

     Sometime ago I had a patient who I will call Annie who was in her seventies.  She had, by anyone's standards, a rough life.  She grew up in a rural southern town, and suffered many abuses as a child.  Her mother was an alcoholic.  Her family grew up among violence and guns and they lived in a very unsafe environment.  Her home was constantly under assault.  When she was just seven years old, while bickering with her younger sister, her older sister became enraged and hit her over the head with a hammer in order to break up the fight.  Annie lay there on the ground unconscious for several hours until her mother finally found her.  In her mother's drunken state she told Annie to go to her room and rest and that she would be fine.  Her mother was also a product of this violent, unstable lifestyle.

     Martin Luther King Jr said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness only Light can do that; Hate cannot drive out hate, only Love can do that."  Fortunately for Annie she was able to learn that love, not hate, was the answer.  Annie, still to this day, suffers from seizures as a result of the childhood trauma, however her soul found a way out of that darkness.  Through a strong faith in God, and His Love from others in her life she became a survivor.  To this day she is a person who emits Light, Peace and Joy from her spirit. 

     Annie possessed what we know as the Fruits of the Spirit.  Love, Joy, Peace, Faithfulness, Self Control. These are not qualities that are easily obtainable in the earthly sense.  The world we live in can sometimes seem to thrive on the bitter fruits of the earth; fear, destruction, doubt, distrust, anger, jealousy, loss of control....You only need to turn the news on everyday to see that the world has gone mad.

     I have always had a calling to be a doctor.  For me, my goal has always been to help heal individuals and save lives.  However, as I have gone through my years in practice, I have realized that I cannot truly save people.  I can treat diabetes, high blood pressure and other medical ailments as well as prescribe antidepressants for mental health.  However, when it comes to the state of the soul, I somehow feel lost as to how to help individuals in this department.  When it comes to the "sickness of the soul", I am just the one who puts on the bandaid.  My job, like yours, is to just love others.  That is ok with me now because I know that for someone to really have a healthy soul, they must come to that crossroads in their lives where they realize that life is incomplete..they must be on the edge of Brokeness.  When you reach this point of no return there is only one recipe for the soul....the Love of God and all of His Believers.

     Even with a Christian faith it sometimes seems impossible to love the unloveable, yet this is what we are called to do.  We are all human and fall into the trap of judging others when it is really not our jobs to do so.  This is what happens when we create and become our own religion.  People have become so divided into their little sects, social groups, political groups and cultures that it seems impossible to understand one another.  At least in America, we are all in the same country but all speaking, literally, a different language.  We are in the modern day Babel.
     Fortunately for us, God speaks all of our languages.  He breaks down barriers. When we accept and Love God unconditionally, we are able to find our way Home.  The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years by various authors who, under divine inspiration, recorded God's Words.  This is His Written Language.  For those who Know, Love and Accept Him into their hearts.. His Language becomes forever engraved into our hearts and lives in us..He is the Roots and we are the Branches...The branches that continue to grow spreading Peace, Love and Joy to all of those who are in need....and this is simply the only recipe that I know for a healthy soul..#food4thought #food4thesoul