“The Need for Spiritual Strength”

Once there was a man who had a dream job, a job that he loved so much that he started getting into his profession when he was in high school. Then in college he took course work in that profession and later he went on to be one of the greats in his profession. But later in life things began to change.

As a kid this youngster loved to sing and he started singing when he was in high school. And then he went on to college and graduated with honors and started as a opera singer. He was so amazingly good at his craft that he was asked to sing in many different productions in Europe. And then he was asked to join an opera group and preformed in many shows monthly. Opera was his life, this is what he loved to do. Then started building lots of acclaim and was loved by everyone all over the world. And the he went on to perform in the US, all over Europe, Asia, and even in Russia and China.

He had a long and successful career, and then he turned 70, and even though he was still be asked to perform all over he stopped signing. It was as though a light switch has been turn off and the bulb of life was beginning to dim. Then he started eating everything and gained about 40 pounds of excess weight. And before that he was very picky about what he ate, and he was always exercising and taking care of his body by eating right.

Something changed, something inside had shut down, something that was ingrained in his psyche has come into play and he was now on a different path. He was not a religious or even a spiritual person and thus didn’t have much in the way of beliefs about anything. But a few years before that he took care of his invalid mother for 3 years while she was bedridden. And for some reason from that point on things changed.

Perhaps he saw in his mother a reflection of himself, or perhaps he saw how the whole process of life was fleeting. But something changed, something was different and thus he gave up on life. Or it might have been that his voice was changing and he was afraid to go out and do what he loved to do.

Then one day he made a trip to take care of his mother and fathers grave, and when he came back he decided to go to the doctor and have a checkup. And low and behold they found cancer, and within a few months this powerful man who was always doing something fun started to wither away. And soon he left the planet and was with God.

It’s interesting that when we don’t have something to hold onto, something bigger to believe in, something powerful and all knowing that we tend to give up and everything starts to slide down hill. I guess the moral of this story is to always have great faith. And have some kind of spiritual beliefs that hold us up when we falter and need someone to carry us through the hard times.

Many Blessings to Everyone!

Dr. Paul Haider