The Messenger

The body with all its feelings is a messenger to my mind from the soul, or spiritual part of me.  I have to learn to translate the language of the body into what the deeper message is.  The body speaks in the language of sex, food, exercise, and certain feelings such as being restless or anxious. Beyond what is healthy in these areas of food, sex and exercise, these are often signals that I need to get some spiritual food/practice because this part of me wants attention and sustenance.  In short, I need to pray in the myriad ways that are prayer.  It could be meditation, a walk, a book that addresses our deeper needs, and even a phone call to a certain person who knows of the spiritual path.  If I take every message of the body at face value, I will eat and sex inappropriately,  overexercise, and get even more anxious by avoiding a spiritual time out.  I believe that the college student who drinks/drugs too much on a Friday night and then hooks up, is really wanting a spiritual solution but just did not know how to translate the body's message.