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I've Been Thinking... 
Soul Food: What's on Your Plate?
There's an old Cherokee story about a grandfather who was instructing his grandson about a great battle that goes on inside every human being. He said to the young man, "The battle is between two wolves. One wolf is cowardly, lazy, sorrowful, and full of self-pity, regret, envy and anger. The other wolf is diligent, courageous, benevolent and full of compassion, joy, empathy and faith."
The grandson thought about the wolves for a moment and then asked, "Which wolf wins the battle, Grandfather?" The Cherokee elder replied, "Whichever one you feed."
What do you feed your soul?
I could write a lot about this, but I think you know what I mean. You've heard the phrase "garbage in - garbage out" in relationship to our physical health and the food we eat; but our soul digests what we feed it too. What we feed ourselves through television, facebook, reading material, conversation, and more important, through our own self-talk, becomes a part of us. We digest a certain amount of it whether we realize it or not. And we don't always make healthy choices.
The trouble is, when we're hungry we'll eat just about anything. And when we long for meaning or answers in life, we are willing to ingest just about any ole' thought that's floating around out there. It is our responsibility to make sure that what we are eating is the "bread of life" that Jesus talks about.
Writing to the Christian believers in the city of Philippi, the apostle Paul had some good advice about this: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:8
Paul was in a Roman prison at the time. I'm sure his surroundings weren't too pleasant. Maybe he knew something we should pay more attention to: that what we dwell on and think about becomes food for our soul.
Have a good lunch today...and make it life-giving!
Greg |
