Spiritual tiredness...

Psychological tiredness can be described as unreal tiredness.  Mental, emotional, and physical tiredness really have a basis in our minds, in our bodily functions, and in our

life activities.  The part of us that directly connects us to the origin and end of life, our spirit, can also experience real exhaustion which may result in us subconsciously seeking good or evil relief.

Spiritual tiredness can come as a result of the influences of spiritual realities and powers in our lives.  In our world, there is a definite battle between good and evil within us, around us, and beyond us.

Dealing with God can be very exhausting especially when God stretches one’s faith as far as God pleases.  The power of evil affecting our lives can also bring us to our limits. If we take some ancient and Jewish records for example: Job cursed the day he was born (Job 3: 1); Jeremiah lamented that his mother gave birth to him (Jeremiah 15: 10); Elijah begged God for his own death (1Kings 19: 4), and there are numerous more examples that our various religious traditions can present to us.

Such people are not the only ones experiencing spiritual influences – good or evil.  Every human does but most of us do not always realize it and those of us who do realize it handle it in different ways.

The effect of life experiences on our spirit is often burdensome.  We get tired of the good and turn to the evil.  We get tired of the evil and turn to the good.  We practice virtue and then turn to vice.  We practice vice and then turn to virtue.  We know this from our personal experiences.  That we meet spiritual fatigue is inevitable.  Jesus, who knew human nature perfectly, took the trouble to invite his followers to come to him for rest (Matthew 11: 28).

Rarely do we maintain spiritual stamina throughout life.  In the battle between good and evil, victory is definitely costly.  No matter our faith traditions (Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, etc.), we realize that, as it was for Jesus, whose story is well known, so it is for every human that reaches the frontline of spiritual battle.  No sane human would enter Gethsemane rejoicing or climb Calvary in glee.  Rather, it is proper of human nature to first seek escape.  Many of us are spiritually exhausted before we get to any Gethsemane.  Therefore, in this perennial and greatest battle on earth (good versus evil), many of us will never enter a Gethsemane to accept the Will that is holy. We define our own escape. 

In Nigeria, a well-known and thriving trafficking of human body parts for rituals exists.  Those of us who want a short cut to authority, power, titles, influence, control, success, supremacy, wealth, triumph, promotion, fertility, pleasures, recovery of health, etc., pay large amounts of money for fresh or stale dead human body parts: eyes, tongues, hair, teeth, liver, kidney, brain, genitals, limbs, etc., to take to occult priests and priestesses to perform their “liberating” or “empowering” ceremonies and appease spiritual powers for their blessing.  Many of us get tired of doing what is right, doing what is good, or doing what is well and seek short cuts and quick fixes and magic bullets from the occult.  

In other parts of the world, spiritual fatigue and moral apathy may turn people towards abandonment of religion and loss of their former identity.  Whole cultures, whole generations, and whole establishments may get tired of their moral values and veer off into spiritual vacuum or into artificial morality without spiritual reference.  

The possibility of spiritual tiredness and need for spiritual nourishment is highlighted in Jesus’ Last Supper and his apparently strange proposition to his followers to feed at his extraordinary table.  Various faith traditions encourage us to regain God’s favour and spiritual life through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

We all need to find ways of keeping up our spirit.  Without that we would easily be out of control and overpowered by spiritual influences that will bear on our lives and on our relationships within the family and with other human beings.  Some problems that we see as health problems have spiritual roots.  Such problems tend to defy medicine and professional expertise.  

They are often reversed by the right spiritual approach.  Our overall wellness as individuals and as families cannot be achieved without paying due attention to the spiritual component of our beings and without taking care of our spiritual needs.

-Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA.   For any comments or questions on this column, please Email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910

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