Sick and Weary

My body may be sick, but my soul, she is weary. It is the man inside that has been sick my entire life, My. Entire. Life. The word MY cannot be acknowledged there enough, for it is my life right?

Me!

The problem with sickness isn't the sickness itself, for whether it is a cold, flue, stomach bug, depression, anxiety, these reactions and ways we interpret them are neither good nor bad, but just are, yet, we submit. WE submit to the flu and gather around those who have it, comforting, loving them, "say prayers," and all rightly so, for the, "flu" as we know it to be does have the potential to hospitalize or kill a person as the media likes to give their annual account of flu-related deaths. The, "flu" or a, "cold" seem to be these underlying spirits that promote fear and hyper-cleansing. Yet, then there are "superbugs" that evolve from such hyper-sanitary areas making us sicker than ever, maybe by resistant strains of the sickness or by the lowered immunity of hyper-antibiotic, and hyper-hand sanitizing humans. Who knows.

The sickness and how we obtain it, get rid of it, is just like anything else, time. Time passes and so does the symptoms as the body fights what it does not accept as it's truth, or with enough time we will get it. The cells, tissues, muscles, mind, all work together to coordinate an eradication system to respond to said sickness and reduce the symptoms as a result to the reduction of "strain" on the body. However, it is our faith in the system that seems to bring about the best results.

Antibiotics, from my understanding have probably saved more lives than any other medical development, yet, as with anything good made by man, there is a cost. The cost is the natural strength of the human body taking it's tole. The mindset is what we are really charging for this show, for it is this mindset from taking a pill and getting all better that saturates our ability to allow a virus or bacteria to run its course without trying to eradicate it by any immediate means necessary. We are attempting to control a body that has been around longer than our will has.

The same thing goes with diet and exercise, for the more superficial reasons people get excited this time of year, weight loss. If the reason to engage in either diet, or exercise, or weight loss supplements is to lose weight, or better yet, look better, which for some I understand this to be an unrealistic image in the head, then you will sadly fall short.

A parable goes:

A little bird flew into the shul (synagogue) through an open window. After flying around the ceiling, it wanted to get out and flew in the direction of the window. But the little bird flew too high. It hit a wall between the top of the window and the ceiling. One and over again, the little bird hit the wall above the window, it became frantic. Banging its beak wildly into the wall, it bloodied itself and fell to the floor. Dead. 

- Zachter, Mort from the passage, Learning to fly low, from the book, Dough. 

Despite the ever-present "anything goes" possibility, there is a truth to be had in our sickest of days. We are at the mercy of certain restraints, even our wills cannot over come. It is not only audacious to think, "anything is possible through our own will and determination," but it is down right blasphemous to the truth we have been given.

Recently I heard this passage about how man's feeling of inadequacy is affecting people in record numbers, in a variety of convoluted ways. We can look to suicide as one, for which that is on the rise, dissatisfaction overall, despite having almost anything at our fingertips, or voice, Alexa, order me a pizza. We are caving in on the almighty self-serving ways that tend to take us only far enough away from truth where we feel stuck and can't go back.

We are supposed to be inadequate, we are supposed to struggle when on our own, for this isn't failure, this is truth. The problem is that we stop short of the solution and stay festering on the lies. We stop short of the miracle in reaching out, submitting our wills to the Almighty God for He will provide what is good. Like a parent watching their child getting a shot, knowing it's for the best, the, "best" can oftentimes be painful for the one who has to experience and endure.

Satan exists. This message is not from me, but a word too great for my mind to fully process. The Bible refers to Satan all throughout as the "Father of Lies." (John 8:44) A "father" of anything that God isn't. God of this world, is truth, is love, we turn from both as we self-serve our "needs" which end up typically being feelings.

"I don't feel like it." As my daughter ways in a random temper tantrum. For her it is to test limits I feel, but as adults we have just enough self-righteousness that we fail to submit to things we cannot change.

We are all different with different gifts, talents, abilities, mine may not even be writing, but in the end, what we discover is that by submitting to the power given to us, accepting our bodies, our minds, our own talents, we can all sing as one orchestra, every part accounted for.

No role, no less, no greater, for all are necessary to perform the task.

“When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.””

Mark 2:17 NET

In my own reconciliation, as well as audacious attempt to give knowledge or at least insight into a devastating body image disorder, a book I was able to write, Castle-Broken: When appearances are everything, is available here. To run your life into the ground for a body that you cannot or will never achieve is more about your mental health than your physical. Do not waste the time and resources being something you aren't or would never allow yourself to see. Submission to truth is a beautiful thing.

Feel free to leave a comment or review online, I know I read those things to see if a purchase was able to contribute to someones life or not.

God Bless.