Today’s post begins a multi-part series on the concept of wellness. But first, let us pause for The Word from our sponsor…
Recall an interesting encounter between the Incarnate Son of God and a woman who perhaps represents the entire world of human beings. After walking a long distance going from one town to the next, Jesus is tired and sits down to rest nearby a well (see John 4: 4-26). A woman approaches the well but doesn’t expect to talk with this man who is there quietly resting. She only seeks some water for cooking or cleaning or drinking and will then go on her way. However Jesus begins a conversation, which surprises her.
This reminds us of God’s wish or invitation to be in relationship with us, even when we are not planning it. Isn’t it amazing that even when we are busy with everyday life, God might interrupt. Sometimes our behaviors, or our thoughts or feelings about ourselves cause us to feel certain that God is far from us and maybe doesn’t even care about us…which of course is not really true. God is always with us and ready for relationship because God believes in our great value. The Holy Trinity is all about relationship. Three in one, you know. Perfect unity and life-giving love is what they have in their relationship. The relationship of the Trinity is what we would hope our marriage relationship might be. In fact, marriage is sign pointing us to our primary relationship with God. But let’s get back to the story at hand…
So God encounters humanity at the well and Jesus asks us for something. The woman thinks that she is unable to give Jesus what He desires. Don’t we frequently feel the same way in our broken human condition? We say “God, I’d like to avoid getting high or drunk or looking at porn tonight…but I can’t muster up the energy right now to fight the good fight.” Or we admit “Jesus, I can’t show love to that person because I’m afraid.” We can come up with any number of clever excuses why we can’t give what is being asked of us by our Creator.
God then explains to the woman in a way that indicates that He is not interested in Band-Aid solutions for our difficulties in life. He wants us to have life to the full (see John 10:10). He doesn’t want us to just have a good time; God wants us to have the best time. Jesus helps the woman to see this, as they talk there by the well. He reaches deep down into her soul, to communicate to her the way that she can be healed, the method through which she can fill the emptiness that so many of us have experienced at one time or another in life. He tells her that He alone has what is missing from her life and she feels it. What a great story. This is indeed the Good News, in a nutshell.
So let us return now to the idea of wellness. We hear this word from time to time, usually from a pharmacy or hospital chain that is trying to sell us something. The message is: “Take a vitamin and be well.” Or it may be: “Come to our office and get a physical exam to make sure that you are well.” However, this concept of “wellness for sale” is not really what we are talking about here. We need to think bigger.
Instead, we are going to consider wellness as an approach to wholeness, to a better life. This idea of wellness is really not new. Those scientists who research and study “health” have come to believe that there are a number of different aspects to being a healthy person. All of these various dimensions are important and they all overlap and interact with each other. What are these dimensions?
The breakdown of these categories or dimensions may vary from author to author, but generally we see this set: emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, physical, occupational, and environmental. A person is not just the sum of a bunch of parts, but rather all of these are intended to be integrated into a whole and healthy person. Sometimes this is presented in terms of an individual being well-balanced. Let’s use just a couple of examples so that we can begin to get the flavor of wellness.
Imagine the middle-aged person who works long hours and is climbing the occupational ladder and making plenty of money, but not doing so well when it comes to relationships with family and friends and God. Perhaps the stress is taking a toll physically on her, but the lure of achievement and the intellectual stimulation of work feel so good. Any time that she slows down, she begins to feel depressed…so she has gotten to the point that she avoids vacations and taking holidays off. Is this person well?
Consider another person, who perhaps has Diabetes. This person knows that he should eat right, lose weight, and take his medication, but he is mad at God and the world because he has this affliction and refuses to change his life because of his illness. He generally gets by okay but occasionally goes into a temporary medical crisis, which causes him to pay a little more attention to his disease for a short while. And then the cycle begins again. Would this person be considered well?
In order to help either of these individuals move closer to wellness, more is needed than just seeing a psychologist or a physician alone. These are complex issues that span multiple dimensions of wellness. These two fictional people would likely benefit from having several healthcare professionals working closely together toward the same goal of wellness. The federal government is now pushing for this type of collaborative and integrated care. In this series on wellness, we are going to look at each dimension of wellness and how they interact.
In conclusion for today, God is ready to give us the life-giving water if we but ask for it, and if we can believe it. None of us deserve it, but this grace is there for us to receive. Our Savior wants to reach deep down into our lives and tap the well of our soul so that we can enjoy life in a most fantastic way. When this happens to us, we will want to share the story of our healing with others…like the woman at the well.