Being Healthy...

I was away for the weekend, out of Singapore. It was a short respite from the haze and a chance to enjoy a slightly new setting. It was nothing that great really, but to be out from the familiar and doing something a little different was a small welcome.

Now that I am back, I see that the haze has cleared somewhat and certainly a far cry from the worst we had last week going into Saturday. That certainly is a blessing! The change in wind direction and some rains over at some hotspots in Sumatra have helped greatly. However, it is duly noted that this clear condition may not last and teh haze can still return. The situation in Muar, Johor is the worst yet that can occur at a PSI of 700+. That would be the worst case scenarion which can hit this city state.

While away, I was getting smses, the same one from several friends, about how the particulates from the haze can cause cancer or some form of respiratory illness over the long term, if we inhale them form the haze, while not taking precautions by wearing a mask (surgical or the N95 type).

We are always on the alert on how to look after our health well and to be well and fit. That is a good start to ensuring that our bodies are healthy and can look towards a well and long lived number of years.

I just wish we would do with equal urgency concerning the well-being of our souls.

That usually would be far from our minds and may not even register much of a blip on our radar of life, so much so, it is considered an item we can easily dispensed with. For some, if we are at Mass, we attend just so we can follow others to receive the Communion and we leave the church with no iota of a change to our lives that seem shackled to all the worries of this world.

Pope Francis in his addressed to the participants of the pastoral convention in the Vatican early this month, mentioned that "... there are people who live without hope and who are immersed in deep sadness that they rry to get out of, believing to have found happiness in alcohol, in drugs, in gambling, in the power of money, in sex without rules."Many of us, perhaps at one time of our lives, or even now, can identify with this. Instead of nurturing our lives with the breath of the Holy Spirit, we allow the Adversary to keep us separated from God, instilling disappointments in our hearts, till they become cold and hardened - wallowing in pessimism and bitterness.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist today is a powerful reminder that as Christians, people of God, we owe it to ourselves to capture the wind of the Spirit in the sails of our lives and be carried along, in conviction and urgency, towards a real and meaningful life that exudes the glory of God - not just health and wellness. This is not about a long term planning. This is for eternity.