Month: April 2020

Spiritual Starvation

As I sit in my house, in isolation due to something that I didn’t create didn’t make happen I wonder why there is a sadness. Yesterday, Sunday it hit me. I am not the only one who feels this. The reason for this sadness, the emptiness, the lacking is Spiritual Starvation. Which is worse than being physically starving.
When we physically are starving it takes roughly 30 days for the body to start shutting down, for the organs to refuse to work because they have no fuel. For most of us it has been a bit longer for the Spiritual starvation to begins it work of spiritual destruction. For me it has been seven weeks since we met as a body. Think about that seven weeks without the Spiritual uplifting, edification and love that we as a body require. Seven weeks since we all came together as family.
While some will say, “Well, there are online services, watch them.” I agree there are online services and I do watch them, but it is not the same thing. It is not being together. It is like having a broken limb, the rest of the body does not function properly. We are told to meet with each other for a reason. One of the reasons is that we are a body collectively. That body cannot function unless the body is together. Pretty soon, the different parts of the body will strike out on its own. We all know how well that works out. It doesn’t.
I am sad, that we as a Spiritual family have forgotten how important being with one another is. How much strength is gained by being in the presence of each other. I think about the disciples and how strong they were when Jesus was around. And when he left, there was a piece missing from the body.
Will we ever meet again as a body? Who knows? If we do what will we have lost never to be regained? How many will have fallen into the crevice of life never to return? How many will be unwilling to meet again? These are all valid questions in the environment we find ourselves. How many will continue to live in the fear of “the disease” because we have become conditioned to become an island? How many will become comfortable sitting at home and watching streaming sermons, because they still live in fear?
I cannot answer these questions. Each of you will have to search your hearts. Each of you will have to understand if you are spiritually starved for the company of each other for uplifting, edification and strength. I know what my answers are. And I know that I am very sad. I miss my spiritual family. I miss my sisters; I miss the love we show each other every time we meet. I miss the rest of my body.

Repairing the Leaks

As usual I find things that inspire me to write. I read something that really resonated with me. It was the story of a man who was hired to paint a boat. While painting the boat he found a small hole. Quietly he fixed the hole and went about his job of painting. He did not tell the customer he had repaired the hole; he just received the amount he was given for the paint job. The next day the customer came to the man with a bigger check. The man said that he did not ask for that much for painting the boat. However, the customer told him that his children had taken the boat out to fish while he was not at home. When he returned and saw the boat gone, he became worried because the children did not know the boat had a hole in it. When he saw the children returning to shore safely, he looked for the leak and found it had been repaired. The customer told the man that he did not have enough money to repay him for fixing the leak. He told the man that because he had fixed the leak his children were safe.
How many times do we quietly fix the leak in the boat of life of others? How many times are we willing to patch their hurts, their doubts, their flaws without payment?
When we fix others leaks, we receive blessings beyond measure, we may even save a life. Even when we are at our lowest, reach out and fix someone else’s leak, it will make you feel better and it might even save your life.