| Soul Food In our spirit of Unity | by Paul Jacobs I grew up on a ranch in western South Dakota. When I received the call to "feed my sheep" in high school, I went off to the state agricultural college to study animal science. Over the next three years, I began to see the harm we are doing to our bodies and the planet. I then tried subsistence farming in Paraguay, organic farming and a variety of health-conscious diets including macrobiotics, whole foods and vegetarianism. I realized that food is more than what we put into our stomachs. As a minister, I focus on what we feed our hearts and minds. Defining a transcendent purpose in life gives us a context from which we make choices about what we will feed our hearts and souls. What we feed our minds, hearts and bodies will support our mission in life or sabotage it. To optimize our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health I advise: -- Eat Live and Raw -- Live raw foods have the natural enzymes that aid in their digestion. Some experts maintain that our diet should be 80 percent live and raw. Taking in the whole experience of life is as important as eating whole foods. Surrounding ourselves with others on the spiritual path is the preliminary step on Buddhism's eight fold path. Being in community provides us with the live-and-raw experiences and feedback required to digest life experience and be spiritually healthy. In authentic community we can safely question, not know, speak our minds or be a stand. Unity Circle, a community building ministry, facilitates authentic community. When we use good communication skills such as: "I" statements, active listening, reflective listening, listening and speaking from the heart, communicating directly and asking for what we want, we are taking life in live and raw. And it will have all the enzymes needed to digest it easily. -- Eat Organic -- Buying organically produced food from a local CSA (community supported agriculture) or the farmers market will benefit our health and the planet. Planting and eating from our own organic garden will not only give us good fresh food, but good exercise and time in nature as well. In my own process of gardening, I am sure I get more nutrition from the connection to nature than from the food. Planting, weeding, watering and harvesting all keep me in touch with the seasons, the weather and my physicality. Reading the masters, being in nature, studying our lives and going to Source in meditation provide organic food for the soul. Just as commercial food retains insecticides and herbicides, soul food can easily become poisoned with our biases and resentments or our desire to control and be right. As we try to get rid of those things that bug us rather than focusing on nurturing ourselves and using them, we poison our experience. If we try to poison the weeds in our lives, thoughts or habits we don't want by condemning them, we poison our experience. We will be much healthier when we identify a particular weed, get at its roots and pull it out. -- Avoid highly processed foods -- Just as we avoid junk food for our bodies, we need to avoid junk food for our minds and hearts. So much of entertainment and news have no nutritional value and actually clog up and create toxicity in our mental, emotional and spiritual system. The current epidemic of fear of terrorism is a good example. Like pollution, it surrounds us. Can we avoid taking it in? Can we find efficient ways to process it? Is there a wholesome alternative? As world citizens, turning the news off and isolating ourselves is not a very responsible tactic. Finding balanced and in-depth news takes a bit of effort. When we know that what we are doing in life, our work and our play, is contributing to a safe and peaceful world we will hear the news differently because rather than being a helpless victim we are creating our bit of heaven on earth. Just as we feed our bodies wholesome foods we should feed our minds wholesome information. One of my favorites is YES magazine -- "A journal of positive futures." -- Fast regularly -- When the disciples asked why they couldn't cast out a demon, Jesus replied (Mark 9:29), "And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, said, "Demons, or evil spirits, are conditions of mind, or states of consciousness, that have been developed because the creative power of man has been used in an unwise or an ignorant way." Just as it is healthful for the body to fast to empty our digestive system, detoxify and break old patterns of consumption, it is healthy for our mind and soul to have times of solitude with no distractions from our inner process. Even better do both at the same time. Every few months I block at least three to five days out in my schedule to fast. The day before the first day of my fast, I eat only salads. Thereafter, I drink lots of water and fruit juice when I need energy. Taking psyllium gives my system some bulk to help cleanse. Journaling helps clear old thoughts and feelings. I come back to a full schedule with a day of salads. Discovering our soul's purpose, living intentionally, being in community, and eating, reading and fully experiencing that which nurtures us are all part of feeding the soul. A healthy diet for the body requires attention and intention. So does food for the soul. To subscribe to Daily Word or to learn more about one of the Unity Churches/Centers in or near the Twin Cities: Unity Christ Church, Golden Valley (763) 521-4793; Unity South, Bloomington (952) 884-6656; Unity of the Valley, Burnsville/Savage, (952) 895-0745, Unity East, Newport/Woodbury, (651) 731-5330; Unity North, Coon Rapids, (763) 554-6489; Unity, Sanctuary of the Heart, St. Paul, (952) 848-2346; Unity Spiritual Seekers, Chisago City, (651) 257-7067; Unity Christ Center, Eau Claire, WI, (715) 836-0010, or other Unity Churches; visit our website www.unityminnesota.org. Pastor Paul Jacobs is a Unity Minister and founder of Unity Circle, A Community Building Ministry. He facilitates Restorative Justice Circles as a volunteer in Woodbury and teaches and lectures at area New Thought Churches. You may contact him at: www.unitycircle.org, pjacobs289@aol.com or call (651) 773-1170. Copyright © 2004 Paul Jacobs |
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July 2004 |
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