The below list of questions comes from Kathy Hendricks’s book:  A Parent’s Guide to Prayer.  Kathy suggests that we need to take our pulse on a daily basis by posing questions that test our spiritual health:

1  Am I snapping at those closest to me?
2.  Am I growing resentful about all I have to do at home, in the workplace, at church, or with my child’s school?
3.  When was the last time I was still?
4.  Am I letting my spiritual needs go unmet while taking care of other details in my life and my home?
5.  What effort have I put into praying?
6.  Do I still have the heart for my faith? my family? my life?

I find that these questions are challenging and thought-provoking.  When we neglect our spiritual needs, we often find our lives off balance.  As we answer and reflect on these questions, we may find that our spiritual health is in need of some attention.  It may mean needing some alone time to just be or pray.  We may need time to rest and play so that our spirits can be renewed.  We may need to engage in a period of discernment to see if our “yeses” need to change.  Are we saying “yes” to too many things?  Are we not saying “yes” to the things that matter most?  Maybe, we just need to spend some daily time in prayer.  Perhaps, we may find that we are in need of our own retreat– a few days of quiet, prayer, and reflection- to feed our spiritual life. 

The answers to why our spiritual health may be off are necessary and sometimes challenging questions.  All of these questions are questions that we can take to prayer.  We can ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in discerning why we feel “off”. 

 What is the current health of our spiritual life?  Thriving, barely surviving, non-exisitent?
What are we feeling nudged to pay attention to right now in terms of our spiritual health?
What do we need to feed our spiritual life?

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.