Category Archives: Spirituality

Living with Psoriasis, Personal Faith, Spirituality

Two Questions About Prayer

(Photo by Sagui Andrea on Pexels.com)

Last month I posted a column on Everyday Health titled How the Power of Prayer Helps Me Face My Psoriasis. I shared questions I had as a young adult with psoriasis who recently found the Christian faith:

Is it selfish to pray for yourself when the world has real problems? Is it possible to know if a spiritual practice like prayer can be a healing force in the face of a chronic condition like psoriasis? Am I wasting my energy praying if my health doesn’t improve?

You can read more about my thoughts on these questions in the column. Here I would like to interact with a couple of question that didn’t make it into the Everyday Health blog.

How Much Prayer Is Enough?

“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.” (Attributed to C.S. Lewis in the movie Shadowlands).

Continue reading →
Standard
Mental Health, Spirituality

Working Harder at Resting

In school I became a straight “A” student after my mom gave me an earful about my grades. I received a less than stellar fourth grade report card, which my parents promptly put on the refrigerator as a badge of shame.

Then there was the dreaded parent-teacher conference. Let’s just say mom grabbed my ear while dragging me back to the car in the school parking lot afterwards. That unfortunate incident spurred me to promptly get on the achievement path.

A Type-A personality emerged in fifth grade that drove me to work tirelessly toward my goals and finish well before deadlines. Whether by carrot or by stick, my motivation to keep working served to get me through years of school and then serving the church as a minister.

Sadly, though, I get a resounding “F” for resting.

Continue reading →
Standard