Some people work out all the time. They do so to keep healthy, but also to look sexy. Back in Chicago, I lived with a couple suite mates from Italy. One of them was a fitness fanatic, practically addicted to the gym. Cycling, aerobics, weights - he did it all. And he did look good because of it: six-pack abs; lean body; ripped torso - definitely eye candy for the ladies. And all because he worked out. Working out is good, I guess, but I think it takes discipline. It is not something easy to do. People are attracted to beautiful things and people. We love to be around them, because they add value to our lives. I know I love beautiful things and people; I loved being near my Italian fitness fanatic suite mate. And because we all appreciate beauty, we strive to acquire some for ourselves; we sometimes watch what we eat, and we make sure to exercise our bodies very frequently, so that we can look beautiful to other people.
But it's not the body that's most important. It's the soul, and the quest for a beautiful soul is by far greater than the quest for a beautiful body. And the way to acquire a beautiful soul is pretty much similar to that for acquiring a beautiful body. We need to feed it well with good spiritual food, and exercise it very regularly. The soul of course is immaterial, and so the food it absorbs is immaterial as well. The exercise for the soul is similarly immaterial. What are the food and the exercise of the soul? To begin with, the food of the soul is anything that inspires us. It is anything that gives us spiritual energy with which to do good in the world. For example, good teaching, the type that exhorts, inspires and challenges us to do good all the time. Also, good music, of the type that elevates our mood and makes us go, "Let's do this!" And jump out of bed in the morning ready to start the day. Also, good movies that teach us stuff, stuff that we can apply in our lives. Also, good relationships that console us, make us realize we are not alone in our human struggle. These and many other things are the food of the soul.
In any case, there's good food and bad food. At the bodily level, there are foods that harm us, with their cholesterol, fat, acid and other content. They make us feel bloated and gassy, and increase our propensity to diabetes, high blood pressure and other diseases. These foods are not to be consumed often, if we want to feel healthy and strong physically. In the same way, there are good and bad foods for the soul. The communications and relationships that weaken our resolve to do good in the world, whether by biasing our minds against the potential of good; tempting us to love what is evil; urging us to despair and disillusionment; provoking feelings of anger and other negative emotions of the sort that paralyze the drive within us to do good; exposing us to bad behavior and seemingly asking us to imitate it, and so forth. In short, any spiritual food that ultimately inspires us to do evil rather than good in the world is bad for the soul. Good food for the soul would rather inspire us to do things that are wholesome and beneficial to society, and make us valued members of society in all we do.
Exercise for the soul goes hand in hand with spiritual food in the quest for a beautiful soul. Just like physical exercise helps the body to stay healthy and look sexy, spiritual exercise helps to keep the soul nimble and fine. Spiritual exercise refers to anything that keeps the soul alert and lean, and healthy. Let's look at those words one after another. An alert soul is sensitive. It is not asleep. It is conscious of what is going on in its environment. It notices things like injustice, insecurity; in short anything evil, and strives to overcome them with goodness. It reflects on its purpose in the world. It is not oblivious to opportunities for doing more and more good in the world. Jesus said concerning the alert soul: “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be alert, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions" (Lk. 12:35-40; 42-44).
But a soul that is not alert fares differently. Jesus says concerning these: "But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" (Lk. 12:45-47). And so the soul must be alert. Notice one thing in this regard, in any case: ignorance of the will of God was not an excuse to not be alert; what this means is that we must feed on spiritual food, on the word of God, which will inform us of God's will, in addition to exercise.
The next benefit of spiritual exercise is to give us lean souls. Plato and Socrates talked a lot about the concept of a lean soul, especially in the Symposium and some of Plato's other dialogues. A lean soul is one that is trained in philosophy. It is one that is not overly interested in material things. Rather it is interested in spiritual and intellectual things. It is a contemplative soul. Remember the example of Cassius from a previous post? A lean or thoughtful soul is contemplative. And thirdly, a healthy soul is a good one: loving, compassionate, altruistic, noble, cheerful, blissful, happy, loyal, faithful, optimistic, positive, and joyful. A healthy soul is not beset with spiritual maladies, such as depression, anger, insecurity, dissipation, sadness, and so on. A healthy soul thrives in this difficult business of life, and maintains a positive attitude; always seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty, and always keeping faith in a victorious afterlife.
To have an alert, a lean and a healthy soul, we must in addition to eating good spiritual food as we have said, engage in good spiritual exercises. Some of these exercise include: volunteering. In the previous post entitled "I'm Coming Out," I talked about volunteering at some length. I explained how volunteering helps people and gives us emotional satisfaction when we engage in it. Other spiritual exercises include yoga, meditation, organizing and participating in spiritual activities, and spiritual writing, just like I try to do everyday. By writing, I exercise my intellect. I talk with my soul and encourage a vigorous and productive self-reflection; a true intra-personal back-and-forth. This indeed is what spiritual writing does for me: It exercises my soul, more than any other spiritual exercise does. And how fortunate for me that I enjoy it and am good at it. It's like people who love the gym - how easy then it would be for them to exercise physically. We should try to find one physical exercise we love to do, be it volunteering; organizing and participating in spiritual events; yoga, meditation and so forth and, whenever we have eaten good spiritual food by exposing ourselves to wholesome spiritual communications and relationships, we can then exercise our souls well, all in the most-important quest for a beautiful soul.
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