Wellness
Matthew 9:9-13
A severe skin rash prompted a farmer to come to town to be examined by a doctor. After the usual history-taking followed by a series of test, the doctor advised the patient that he would have to get rid of the dog that was evidently causing the allergic reaction. As the man was preparing to leave the office, the doctor asked him out of curiosity if he planned to sell the doctor or give it away. “Neither one,” the patient replied. “I’m going to get a second opinion. It’s a lot easier to find a doctor than a good hunting dog.”
Even in health and wellness, there are many considerations and dimensions. To the doctor, the problem was the skin rash. To the farmer, it was something more. There are many theories of well-being. One encompasses 6 distinct dimensions (Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Positive Relations with Others, Purpose in Life, Self-Acceptance). Comparisons with other frequently used indicators (positive and negative affect, life satisfaction) demonstrate that the latter neglects key aspects of positive functioning emphasized in theories of health and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
The Christian concept of wellness is expressed in the Hebrew word Shalom. Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) in Hebrew which means peace, Nothing missing, Nothing broken, well-being, and complete. It is used as a greeting — hello, and goodbye. Its equivalent in Arabic is salaam, from the Hebrew root shin-lamed-mem (ש.ל.ם).
Shalom aleichem (שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם; “well-being (peace) be upon you” or “may you be well”), is used to greet others. The appropriate response to such a greeting is “upon you be well-being” ( עֲלֵיכֶם שָׁלוֹם, aleichem shalom). In Arabic the translation is Assalamu alaikum.
In the Gospels, Jesus often uses the greeting “Peace be unto you,” a translation of shalom aleichem.
1. Jesus is the all around healer, who put wellness back in people.
Scripture says Jesus went about healing people of their sickness, blindness, hemorrhage, possession of evil spirits, leprosy, epilepsy, and various sins – obsessions, pride, gluttony, lust, hatred and social dysfunctionalities.
Let us look at Matthew, the tax collector. Verse 9: “As Jesus was walking along he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth–”
What was he sick of? Why did he have no shalom? What was missing, what was broken, why was he not well, what made him incomplete?
Apparently he had no physical symptoms. But his relations with other people was so negative. Everywhere he went, he was spat at, looked down upon, ostracized. Simply because he was a tax collector. In the eyes of the Jews he was a collaborator of Rome. He enriched himself illegally. Whether he was corrupt or not we do not know. But the social pressure was impinging on his autonomy, his personal growth even his self acceptance.
He was stressed out. And so when Jesus said “follow me” he immediately stood up and followed Jesus and became his disciple, and became well.
Stress as we know is the consequence of the failure to adapt to change. It is the condition that results when person-environment transactions lead the individual to perceive something missing, whether real or not, and inability to cope between the demands of a situation and the resources of the person’s biological, psychological, spiritual or social systems.
In medical terms, stress is the disruption of homeostasis through physical or psychological stimuli. Stressful stimuli can be mental, physiological, anatomical or physical[1] reactions. We know that there are stages of stress. 1. Alarm is the 1st stage. 2. Resistance: is the 2nd stage. If the stress persists, it becomes necessary to attempt some means of coping with the stress. Although the body begins to try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment, the body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted. 3. Exhaustion: is the 3rd stage when all the body’s resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal function. The result can manifest itself in illnesses such as ulcers, depression or even cardiovascular problems. Chronic stress can lead to skin rashes, blindness, paranoia, schizophrenia.
Stress can significantly affect many of the body’s immune systems. The term psychoneuro-immunology is used to describe the interactions between the mental state, nervous and immune systems, as well as the interconnections of these systems.
We know that there are common factors of stress. Some common categories and examples of stress include:
Sensory: pain, bright light
Life events: birth and deaths, marriage, and divorce
Responsibilities: lack of money, unemployment
Work/study: exams, project deadlines, and group projects
Personal relationships: conflict, deception
Lifestyle: heavy drinking, insufficient sleep
Environmental: Lack of control over environmental circumstances, such as food, housing, health, freedom, or mobility
Social: Struggles with nonspecific individuals and social defeat can be potent sources of chronic stresses
2. His medicine was unconditional love
The power of love, healed Matthew. Jesus forgave him his sins, affirmed his person, and gave him a new job. The religious people complained:
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard this, he said, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire Mercy, not sacrifice, For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners“
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…”
We need more healers like Jesus. “Go and learn what this means: I desire Mercy, not sacrifice”. We are called to be tender hearted. It means “active compassion”. “Compassion in Action”. God wants “mercy” not sacrifice. Sacrifice is doing religious rituals that are meant to reconcile us with God. But to Jesus, mercy (love) is a better cure. We haven’t changed much over time.
3. Holistic healing and need for partnerships
There is a lot of stress in the world today. There are many causes to many manifestations of un-wellness. Alienation is a sickness that’s destroying our society. It just means that each individual is acting autonomously and not considering the other dimensions of wellbeing. Making choices that benefit us, even if it costs others severely. Self serving —looking out for number one. Pride out of control. Exaggerated self worth. That’s sin. That’s alienation from God.
Nurses and pastors need to work together. We need to connect our competencies to address the differen dimensions of unwellness. We need to strive to be holistic in the healing ministry so that as we gain more knowledge, we do not compartmentalize our lives and therefore, the healing of our brokeness. Various disciplines now deal with specific problem areas. I am amazed at how new fields of study keep growing. We strive to be complete by ourselves. But it does not work. We need each other.
One important aspect of well being is our sense of purpose that is connected to a greater purpose by a greater intelligence. We are alienated from God by the illusion that we can understand everything by human reason. That we can gain wellness, simply by being self-reliant. It is a false notion. We are made complete by God as the rich young man found out.
The rich young man asked Jesus “I have followed all the laws, what else do I need to do to enter the kingdom of heaven.” And Jesus replied, give everything to the poor. And he departed in sadness. (Matt. 19:16-22)
Nothing that he could do was sufficient. He needed to recognize that to be whole, to have Shalom, one needed to receive the grace of God through faith. Faith reconciles us to God. To know that we cannot know everything and to have faith in the goodness of God, enables us to understand our situation better. Stress will always be there. Un-wellness will be a part of our existence. But we know that God has a greater purpose which makes our lives more purposeful and meaningful.
To walk in the light of eternal grace, is to love God. To love God is to care enough about others who are without saving grace; to share Jesus with them through a Godly, loving, Spirit filled life; to share comfort and peace with them in the middle of their crisis in hopes that we share the saving Grace that will give them life and wellness now and for all eternity. “For I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners” means that to have healing, one must recognize the causes of sin and alienation.
Christians have a job…it’s their calling…to combat the effects of alienation with the gospel of God’s grace. To see selfish hearts made into hearts full of sacrifice through the power of compassion.
Shalom aleichem. May you be well. Nothing missing. Nothing broken. May you be complete.
(Message delivered at SUCN faculty retreat, June 10, 2008, Lansoy Beach House, Bacong, Neg. Or.)
