How to Fight for Soul Care

Were we talking about the idea of soul care before 2015? If so, I don’t remember much of that conversation. In recent years, I see and hear talk of it everywhere. It’s described with words like “mindfulness,” “meditation,” “silence,” “stillness,” “space,” and “breath.” As I read those descriptors out loud it all sounds so easy breezy simple. In fact, those words make soul care sound passive. They are words that seem to exist in the void of action. Maybe that’s why I’ve gone about my business expecting to turn a corner and find a spacious, silent moment laid out before me like a welcome mat.

Changing the Default

In actuality, I have to acknowledge (with some humility and sadness) that soul care isn’t my default. In a quiet moment, I turn on a podcast or scroll through Goodreads instead of reading an actual book. It hasn’t always been this way. A few months ago I would’ve told you that a moment of quiet was one of my favorite things to treasure. The pandemic changed things, and a distracted way of life has taken hold. The shift in my physical world changed my thoughts and emotions in ways I couldn’t at first identify. As the days stacked up like carbon copies, I began to put words to those changes. I’m tired of my own inability to focus. I wake from a fog to find I’m disengaged from the people right in front of me. So I’ve decided now is the time to fight, to get active, and to pursue true soul care.

Last week I drug myself through a particularly trying day. A conversation with my husband the previous night lasted far past my bedtime, so I was operating on less than my needed nine hours of sleep (yes, nine, don’t judge). To distract myself from how I felt, I flicked through my phone opening and closing social media apps, sending texts, and finding spam I could delete from my inbox. By dinnertime, I had experienced quite enough of my distractible state and reactionary short temper. I knew the culprit for my irritable state. Digital distractions used to be my dessert—something rarely indulged in and savored with pleasure and joy. Now they’ve become more like a condiment I pour on every bite of food, and it’s making me sick.

Digital distractions used to be my dessert—something rarely indulged in and savored with pleasure and joy. Now they’re more like a condiment I pour on every bite of food. Find out how I'm changing this default and fighting for self-care. Click To Tweet

So in a moment of clarity that I attribute to the Holy Spirit’s leading, I laid down my phone as I began to prepare dinner. My mind felt abuzz with half-thoughts and I began wishing the voice of one of my favorite podcasters could drown out the discomfort. I continued on trimming the brussels sprouts, chopping bacon, and cooking rice. The aromas and sensations brought about a sense of calm and even a touch of unexpected pleasure. I battled against the idea that quiet time equals unproductive time. I urged myself ahead moment by moment until I finished dinner and the comfort of family filled the quiet.

Called to Fight

The psalmist wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God,” (Ps. 46:10) but he didn’t specify that a state of stillness would come easily or naturally. In fact, a few verses prior, there are descriptions of mountains crumbling into the ocean (Ps. 46:2-3). We have a great privilege of security and safety knowing that God is with us and that “the God of Jacob is our fortress,” (Ps. 46:11) but to act on that knowledge and put our faith into practice by being still is not assumed an easy task. It is, however, something we are called to do. I was recently reminded that our stillness is displaying to ourselves and the world, “you are God, and I am not.” 

I encourage you to fight this fight friend. It is a battle worth engaging. Find moments of solitude, stillness, and reverence before the Creator of the universe. We can talk until we’re out of breath about the need to bring our minds into submission to Christ, but it’s all empty words unless we have a plan in place to help us walk this out. One important part of that plan is naming a way to give your mind and soul a little more space today. Leave a comment below letting me know how you’re fighting for your self-care right now as we navigate these unusual days.