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Lifestyle Make-Over Week on Moody 

By Mindy Caliguire - Sunday, January 13, 2008

This past week, I had the great fun of joining in a week-long conversation about starting the new year out right… courtesy of Midday Connection on WMBI. Throughout the week, hosts Melinda Schmidt and Anita Lustrea interviewed guests on several topics such as getting organized and being wise with money.

And Thursday was Soul Care day! Anita wondered, how might we arrange our lives in 2008 for a healthy, growing relationship with God? Adele Calhoun and I shared the interview, and enjoyed the conversation with Anita as well as the folks who called in during the broadcast.

So what was the “answer”? How do we care for our souls in ‘08? You’ll need to listen to the archives to hear the whole thing… but here’s a few highlights:

Pay attention to your desire. For “more” for “something else” for “transformation”. Desire, Adele reminded us, can take the form of a positive feeling or even a holy discontent, a holy longing, both pointing to a desire for change. What to do with that desire? First, it might be helpful to write about it in a journal. Capture those fleeting thoughts or wishes or longings on paper, where they can become more concrete and actionable.

Once identified, you can seek out ways to connect with God… you may need silence, you may need community, you may need solitude, you may need a time of serving. Your desire for God will help lead you. “You lead me on paths of righteousness for your name’s sake” (Psalm 23)

A second help is actually a “what not to do”. So often, we build what we refer to as our “spiritual life” around a particular spiritual practice or pattern for “devotions” or “quiet time”. While those patterns may serve us well in one season of life, they may or may not adapt to new circumstances or new seasons of the soul. In light of that, we need to abandon or tendency to see our “spiritual life” as something distinct from the “rest of life”. All of life is spiritual, is it not? “Where can I go from your spirit?” the psalmist asks… answer: nowhere.

Instead of searching for what “counts” in the “spiritual life” (ie, does a walk in nature “count” as solitude?), seek out soul health. Is your soul healthy? If not, what restores health and life to your soul? The goal is spiritual vitality in all of life, not a mechanical formula of spiritual disciplines.

So, is your soul healthy? How would you know? What are your symptoms of Soul Health or Soul Neglect? What helps you receive from God? Seek the answers to those questions in these opening weeks of 2008…. and watch out! A soul intimately connected with God is a powerful force to be reckoned with in this world.

The last point Anita raised is the value of a Spiritual Friend. Someone with whom to share the journey, like a workout buddy, can significantly increase our odds of sticking with our intention to care for our souls. But unlike most workout buddies (not mine, though… thanks Suz!!), a deepening soul friendship brings with it the incarnational presence of Christ. The Holy Spirit is an active and welcome member of a soul friendship. Opening ourselves to the person of Christ in each other, flawed and broken though we are, opens wide the floodgates of God’s transforming activity in our souls.

Grab a journal, grab (or deepen) a soul friend, and take a dive into 2008!

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