Body and Soul

Have you ever experienced spiritual dryness in your soul?  You pray, go to Mass, read scripture and it all seems pointless.  St. Ignatius calls this desolation.  This has been my state for the last two weeks and somehow, it was triggered by my body.

In the past, my go to stress reliever or problem solver was food first and then God.  Since making a very conscious decision to stop and changing my habits it has been working.  Until I reached a weight loss plateau coupled with a shoulder injury and my will to keep moving forward left me.  My prayer now is simply asking to have the strength to continue on the right path and keep moving forward; knowing that if I do things will improve.  I know I do not want to go back to my old habits but they seem so comforting right now. It’s one thing to sacrifice and see rewards but to sacrifice and not see rewards is a bit depressing.

My body and soul are in sync which would be great if they were in consolation but I sit here in desolation. St. Ignatius advises that in desolation one should keep following whatever plan was made before desolation.  I am taking his advice knowing that consolation will come again.