Soul's Gotta Eat

I'm not sure where this saying comes from. I asked my husband about it because he says it quite frequently and he was at a loss for its origin as well, but I love it.  Because not only does it imply we need to sustain ourselves with actual food, but we need to feed our souls as well!

What does it mean to feed our souls?  Well, of course we can say we need God and need to experience Him in prayer and in church. But think about the phrase… a soul needs to eat.  It's not said when you think you might be hungry, or when you only have time for a quick snack, so those moments when you steal a prayer are fine for a quick snack for your soul.  But if you think about it, what are the times we remember our bodies eating?  Special times like family get togethers, Thanksgiving, Christmas dinners, dinner at grandma's house.  Those are very  special moments that we get together with loved ones and eat and enjoy the meal, not in a rush or hurry, but we make special foods that take time,  that have special ingredients and we share with those we love.  Then while eating this special meal we take the time to talk, listen to each other, share our lives.

So when we say and actually mean, "a soul needs to eat" we should do all those same things.  We should take the time to prepare for our encounter with the Almighty.  This may not happen every day or even every week even when we are attending daily or weekly Mass, but these may be times when we decide to go on retreat, or have a heart-to-heart talk with our spiritual counselor or reflect more deeply on Christ in our life.

Our souls need to eat. They cannot be sustained with the quick and easy meals.  We need to stop and think what makes our souls happy. What is it's favorite 'meal' and make sure we give it that special nourishment on a regular basis. 

We eat every day because we know our bodies need food. But we don't always make a big meal or even nutritious food all the time.  But we know we need our vegetables and fruits and try to get those in.  Our souls work the same the way. It can make do on our daily dose of prayer and Mass, but if we don't stop and really prepare to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every time we go to Communion, it's like giving our souls junk food. It's great we are receiving Jesus, but are we really thinking, "wow, I am taking in the Body and Blood of Jesus who died on the cross for me?"  I need to pay attention to this.

In my mind's eye I picture an older gentleman, slightly stooped, with aging gnarled hands holding onto a wooden kitchen chair. He pulls it out to sit down and takes a warm slice of homemade bread from a plate and picks up a knife and slices off a bit of butter and begins to slowly cover the bread with it and hands it to you.  "Soul's gotta eat. Tell me about your day…"