Prayer: Vitamins for Your Soul
https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/prayer-vitamins-for-your-soul
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could make it through the day without my vitamins. I’ll be honest: sometimes I forget to take them in the confusion or hecticness of a particularly busy or stressful morning. Later in the morning or in the early afternoon I will feel like I just don’t have the energy to complete a simple task or a brain fog will set in, making easy decisions more complicated than they need to be. Then it dawns on me that I forgot to take my morning vitamins.
It is the same way with my soul. If I forget to have my morning prayer time with my Heavenly Father, I am more likely to fall into negative feelings of worry or anxiety or just plain not being as patient as I should be. After all, when it comes to children, children will be children, so it is up to me to choose how I am going to respond to the challenges, difficulties and problems they present. Unfortunately, children do not come with instructions and sometimes, since they are fully human, they become more complicated when they become teenagers. At those moments when meeting challenges that flummox me the most, I am fully aware of having forgotten to take my vitamins, not only for my body but also for my soul.
To be honest, if I miss my prayer time, it usually isn’t because I “forgot” but the schedule changed for some reason: I had an early appointment, or an unexpected emergency came up, or a myriad of other reasons. I find at that point when I recognize I need to refocus my attention or recharge my batteries, I need to immediately hit the reset button. I need to take a deep breath and find some time to converse with my Heavenly Father, even if it is only for a few moments.
I need to make a phone call to my Papa. “Sorry, Dad, I missed my appointment with you. I want to thank you for that spectacular sunset last night. By the way, you sure work in mysterious ways. If I didn’t go to the store on Tuesday, I would not have bumped into someone who reminded me about the special Mass celebration on Saturday that I missed in the bulletin. Thank you! It was a beautiful time in more ways than one. And if you have any suggestions or tips on how to deal with one sassy little boy, I’m open to any ideas. I love you and I miss you immensely. Thank you for all that you have done for me.”
Vitamins work great! But they don’t work unless I take them. I need to remind myself to take my vitamins, not only for my body but also for my soul. In his Letter to the Philippians, Saint Paul reminds us,
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4: 6-7)
