As I was sitting in traffic the other day, I listened to an interview with the famous American Rabbi, Harold Kushner. The discussion centered on the number of people in the news of late who are openly hostile to religion and to the concept of God. At one point in the discussion, Kushner was asked if he had ever doubted the existence of God. The rabbi responded by saying that the existence of God or a higher being had not be the important question for him and he didn't think that it was a problem for most people. He said he thought most people believe in God. He concluded by saying, "For most people, the issue has never been the existence of God but rather it has been the importance of God, or the difference that God makes in the way we live."

  Rabbi Kushner had, I thought, gone right to the core of the issue. How important is God to you and what difference does God make in the way you live your life?

   I read a series of articles recently in which people tried to explain how their faith affects them. One man, a medical doctor, wrote that he went through a major conversion after he had had a heart attack. "I was in rehab," he explained "when it dawned on me that I had let my faith wither up over the years. I had not given it much thought or importance for much of my life. As I was working to get my body back in shape, I had begun to come to terms with the fact that I was spiritually out of shape too.  I began to realize as I was walking on the treadmill that you cannot exercise for ten minutes a week and stay healthy and neither can you eat a healthy diet just one day of the week and a completely unhealthy diet the other six days and expect to remain in good health. If you don't take care of your body every day, in no time at all you'll be sick.  I realized that this was also true on a spiritual level as well. Just as I had come to realize that I had to treat my body differently if I wanted to live longer, so too do I have to treat my soul differently if I want my soul to be healthy."

  That doctor had certainly come to some wise realizations during his rehab, realizations that could have a profound impact not only on his life but on our lives as well.  

  This beautiful season of Advent is a great time for us to take stock of our spiritual health. A few simple questions can get us started: 1. Just how important is your life with God to you? 2. What difference does your faith make in the way you choose to live your life each day? 3. Are there any spiritual "exercises" that you can do each day that will help you to "shape up" spiritually? 4. Is there anything you are doing right now in your life that you need to stop doing? 5. Is there anything that you are not doing now that perhaps you ought to begin doing as a part of a regular effort to deepen your relationship with God and others?