“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” –Matthew 16:26

I once had a season of life in which I wrestled to reconcile the trade-off between gaining the world and losing my soul. In a great act of mercy, I lost. Looking back, I realize my biggest blind spot was my stubbornness and pride. I thought I knew what was best for me and obstinately pursued it, instead of focusing my heart on assurance and surrendering the rest to servanthood.

As students, this dichotomy can feel especially intense since every exam grade, financial deficit, or degree-related decision can have steep worldly repercussion. While approaching life decisions irresponsibly is certainly not the point, it is healing to focus instead on the things that are unseen, and far more important. When we do this, the things of earth grow strangely dim.

In times when I am weary, when my body yearns for rest and my soul aches even more, I take comfort to remember the references in Scripture to walking. Adam walked with God, as did Enoch, Abraham, and Noah. In the book of Micah, we are called to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly, and in the book of Proverbs, wisdom is referred to not as a binary attribute that one attains at a certain age, but as a daily walk, a habit that is cultivated over time and constantly circled back upon.

As humans, we are meant to live at a walking pace. Walking is the pace of wisdom. It is the pace of relationship, and of love. Naturally I feel sick when I slide into the dopamine-pumping, consumer-driven, attention-seeking inertia of modern life, something to which I am especially susceptible. It is not what I was created for.

In this sense, the biggest enemy for most of us is not war, or politics, or back pain, but a distraction from the joy, purpose, and communion for which we are created.

In the moments when life’s battles feel unbearable, when the world presses in, we can remember that muscling out hurriedness to gain the world is not in fact desirable as we are led to believe. I require near constant reminding that while we are worried and upset about many things, few things are needed, or indeed only one (Luke 10:41).

Let us take bread, our daily bread, that has already been given for us, so that the eyes of our hearts might be opened. When we focus on our souls, the world changes from an obstacle to conquer to a canvas to serve.

As doctors, this shift is paramount. In order to heal, we must first be healed.

Learn more about NUHS’ Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine program here.