Spiritual Immunity

For those of you following our journey with cancer at Caring Bridge, this post will be a "repeat" . . .

We take for granted the incredible way in which God put our bodies together. Every moment of every day, in each of us, we have an army of fighters and defenders (white blood cells; neutrophils etc.) at combat - - killing off germs as they enter our bodies through the air we breathe, the food we eat and the things with which we come in contact.

My wife, Paula (blogger at created 2B creative), is fighting a cold - - not a big deal to most of us - - but we are seeing first hand that when our immune system is compromised, even something as simple as a head cold is enough to knock us off our feet (literally). Paula spent most of last week in bed or on the couch - - frustrating for her, I know, as she watched me scurry around packing up Christmas for another year. She so desperately wanted to participate in the clean up but, alas, she could not.

On Thursday morning she felt a little and thought she would try to do her morning regime of stretching excercises and walking on the spot to get the lymph flowing in her body. This was NOT a good idea for after a few short minutes, she needed to sit and felt as though she might pass out.

I, too, have been battling the same cold with much greater success. As I've been thinking about our bodies' ability to fight off colds, I notice a considerable difference in Paula's ability to do so (with her weakened physical system) as compared to my stronger physical body. Not rocket-science, I know - - call me "captain obvious".

However, an "a-ha" moment for me came as I began to think about this from a spiritual perspective. When we "flex" our "spiritual muscles" - - practise spiritual disciplines (e.g. solitude, silence, fasting, prayer, frugality, worship, sacrifice, fellowship, gratitude, studying the Word, acts of service etc.) - - we are better prepared to combat the negative spiritual forces that bombard us daily through media, culture, well-intentioned loved ones, etc. etc. When we do not care for our spiritual immune system, we leave ourselves open to the "germs" that rob us of our spiritual well-being. If you are one of those who make resolutions in January, let me encourage you to be thinking of some spiritual resolutions in addition to any physical resolutions you have made.

I continue to think about spiritual immunity and plan to camp out on this idea for a few posts . . .

How do we build spiritual immunity in ourselves? How do we nurture it in our children? What responsibility do we have as a church body to develop spiritual immunity in our "community" (both within the church body and in our neighbourhood at large)?

If you have any ideas or comments to share about how you care for you or your family's spiritual immune system(s) please leave these in the comments so that we can all benefit from the exchange of ideas. God bless you all!