Spiritual Starvation

No matter how busy you are, no man is too busy to eat; neither is any man too busy to feed his soul. And if we starve our souls, we will deprive our lives, busy though they may be, of their fruitfulness. -- George P. Vanier

What struck me about this quote is how much "junk food" we feed to our minds. TV shows are either bad or benign - OK, there may a few "good" ones, but they are a rarity. Most of what we watch falls into the benign category on the evil scale, and we feel pretty good about that. I believe we are thus deceiving ourselves. These benign shows are mental junk foods that are slowly starving our souls.

Statistics state that if we watch TV at our current rate until we die, we will have spent a full 10 years of our life watching TV! At the end of my life, I don't want to say, "Oh, if only I had watched Constantine get booted off American Idol during TV Turn-Off week, my life would be complete." Exaggerated? Yes, but this is how we act when faced with actually having to miss a show that we like. Imagine if we spent that 10 years reading, memorizing scripture, spending time with family, volunteering, or actually getting to know our neighbors. Sure, it's been a tough 4 days without TV, but during that time I've read 1 1/2 books, finished 2 sewing projects and started another, discussed ideas with my family, and played games - all of which feed your mind.

This is not an age where spiritual malnutrition and flabbiness can stand against the evil one. So, put down the remote. Feed your soul.