Welcome to my blog. I am both humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to share my thoughts, ideas and experiences. Why am I starting a blog? There are two reasons.
The first is my hope that these words will somehow help you to grow healthier in mind, body, and spirit and to develop a more intimate relationship with God. This hope grew during my decades working as a physician with individual patients to improve health. Now I feel called to reach out to a bigger audience with a broader message about healing.
The second is that this process also helps me to clarify my life purpose and to integrate my body, mind and spirit with my journey to God. The classic book A Writer’s Reference says “Writing is a process of figuring out what you think, not a matter of recording already developed thoughts.”[1] When my mind roils with too much information, too many opinions, great complexity, uncertainty, and relentless change, I can find direction, hope, and peace when I try to organize and integrate my thoughts on paper. This led me to develop Serenity and Health and initiate this blog.
We are co-travelers on this journey of life. Hopefully we will all learn and grow together. The topics we will cover will vary widely. Some will be narrow and others broad. One time we will speak of eating and the next time of prayer, the power of a smile, or the mercy of God.
Trusting God allows us to continue towards our goal even when we don’t understand the route or the road signs. It reminds me of the tapestry described by de Caussade in Sacrament of the Present Moment.[2] The right side of the tapestry reveals an intricate design of rich color all carefully planned by God. We are the stitchers who do our work on the reverse side of the tapestry and are not able to see the design. As we trust the plan of the Great Designer, we make stitch after stitch, creating the rich design on the front side. But just think of the tangle of knots, dangling threads, and colors that mark the back side where we live and work. We need faith to see the beauty. In this blog we will be exploring the knots, dangling threads and colors that can come together to create great beauty as we attempt to live our lives and find health, peace and God.
I look forward to returning to this forum regularly to share a new thread or color or perhaps a new tool to help you with your stitching. I will regularly include specific suggestions that I encourage you to follow. No doubt you are already doing many things to enhance your health of body, mind and spirit. But sometimes we all need to try something different. You will see that these introductory recommendations deal with study, prayer and eating. This broad range is meant to reach all parts of you, your body, mind and spirit. I hope and pray that you will benefit by following these suggestions.
SUGGESTIONS
Check out resources. Seriously consider reading one of the books listed or or exploring one of the links that are included.
Commit to pray everyday without exception. Pick a time of day, a place, a specific number of minutes, and a style of prayer that is comfortable for you. If you don’t already have a prayer routine, don’t worry—it’s OK to start small. Just commit to something even if it is only five minutes a day. If you don’t know how to pray, start with thinking of all your blessings or reading the psalms in the bible.
For the next week, add up the number of servings of fruits and vegetables that you eat each day and write it down. Keep the counting system simple—each piece of fruit or each serving of vegetable counts as one. A large green salad counts as two. Do not include potatoes or fruit juice. The number should total at least five for a healthy diet.[3] The evidence supporting this recommendation is irrefutable and, in my opinion, increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables is the number one thing you can do to improve your diet. So, if your number is low (and it commonly is), devise a realistic plan to increase your number. Start with a small step such as eating one piece of fruit in the morning or cut up carrots and other veggies with lunch. If you prepare these raw veggies ahead and keep in the refrigerator, you will have more success. You don’t need to reach your goal all at once. You just need to keep at it.
Start a notebook to keep track of your goals: prayer time, fruits and vegetable intake, or whatever you are working on. Look at this notebook at least weekly so you can reevaluate and reset your goals as needed.
We can all work and progress together when we share, so I encourage you to contact me with your thoughts and questions.
I will keep you in my prayers.
"Beloved, I hope you are prospering in every respect and are in good health, just as your soul is prospering." 3 John 1:2
God bless.
P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for my monthly blog or follow me on Facebook or Donna Chacko on Twitter. If my message helps you in any way, please consider sharing it with others.
Dr. Donna Chacko promotes health of body, mind, and spirit through her website (serenityandhealth.com), her blog, and programs at her church. She is the author of the award-winning book and Amazon best-seller Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s Healing Journey (Luminare Press, 2021). You can read her full bio here.
[1]Hacker, Diana & Sommers, Nancy (2015). A Writer’s reference (8th edition) (p.3). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s
[2]de Caussade, Jean-Pierre. (1981). Sacrament of the present moment (new translation by Kitty Muggeridege, originally written in the 1700’s) (pp. 53-54). New York, NY: HarperCollins.
[3] Willet, Walter C. (2001). Eat, Drink and Be Healthy (p. 118). New York, NY: Simon and Schuster
Additional Reading
To change the world, you must first change yourself. Read on to help you embrace and live this counterintuitive message.