Being Mortal

Atul Gawande's book, "BeingMortal," is food for much thought.  Medicine can maybe give us better health, or survival.  But what about well-being?  A more contemplative prayer, or any prayer that has a bit of listening or openness to the Divine, is medicine for the soul.  I can have a team of people working on the health of my soul, or spiritual innards.  There is The Spirit, that is the Divine, friends or anam cara's who are on the same journey, and me in my daily practice of giving myself the right dosage of prayer.  Skip the dosage,  or contact with friends and ignore God, and I will be in a whole lot of pain that could affect the body as well.  The days when I skip my spiritual exercise, or dosage of prayer time, or attentiveness to the interior life, are days that go less well for me.  Why pay all my attention to a body that will cease to exist some day, while I ignore the soul that goes on forever?  But in fact I do this ignoring some days.  So I am insane on those days.  My beginning prayer each morning is, "Lord, let me not be insane today."