It's Easier To Live By Faith If You've Had A Good Night's Sleep

Sometimes cutting short your sleep to commune with God may undermine your ability to live close to God. A tired person is more vulnerable than the wide-awake. The weakened body is more apt to be plagued with spiritual self-doubt than when one is fed and rested.

Quiet times for prayer, meditation, and reflection aid the Christian life, but the notion that 'more of the same' will continue to produce positive results is questionable.

Thoughtful ideas about the interconnection of spirit and body are surprisingly commonsensical when we see it this way:

• It's easier to feel close to God when the Excedrin has taken my headache away.

  
  

• Faith soars when the air is fresh and I'm biking briskly on a bright spring morning.

  
  

• After a cup of coffee, my spiritual condition is always improved.

Spiritual inspiration and enthusiasm can be mediated by physical intervention and activities. This being true, faith builders will not only recommend worship in the traditional forms — ncluding Bible study, prayer, meditation and song. They will also encourage the health-care (Excedrin? caffeine?) of the body, spirit and emotions through exercise, vacations, travel, hospitality, friendship, good-deeds, interesting and helpful projects, enjoyment of the arts, folk-dance, the appreciation of beauty in nature and craftsmanship. And a lot more . . . like hobbies, gardening, walks, vacations.

Confident that "everything affects everything else", the growing Christian will be one who designs a well-rounded life-style, free of guilt that some pastimes may bring us closer to God.