Thought For The Day - Tuesday

Mind, Body and Spirit 

 

We are all a bit (understandably) obsessed with our health at the moment.  Many people we know have been unwell with Covid-19 and we may have lost loved ones. We are worried about catching it before we get our vaccines. Dealing with high stress levels affects our physical health.

Our physical bodies can become all we think about but to stay healthy we need to look after our spiritual health too.

One way of seeing ourselves is that we are tripartite (God made us in his own image - ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ - Psalm 139). We are mind, body and spirit or soul, body and spirit. Our physical bodies are how we connect with the world and each other through our senses. Our soul is what makes us unique and enables us to have relationships with God. Our spirit is what gives our meaning and purpose. 

 

We look after our physical health through exercise, healthy diet, and good sleep. We need to see ourselves holistically and do the same with our spiritual health.

 

We exercise in whatever way we can at the moment – perhaps walking, doing yoga or running. We need to exercise our faith too – it needs strengthening through reading God’s word and prayer. Worship exercises our faith, but while we cannot meet to worship together, we need to nourish our faith at home.

 

Staying healthy through eating well is something many of us do, but we can do this with our faith too. We can nourish our faith through feeding on God’s word. Perhaps as we prepare for Lent we can do a spiritual detox instead of a physical one and choose to feed our souls through our choice of reading.

 

And finally, all athletes know they need rest days and so too do our souls. It’s often hard to take time out, but just a short time each day or even each week is enough. Maybe you like to meditate, pray, or just sit silently with a lit candle and reflect on your day.

 

Jesus spent time nurturing his spiritual health. When we are fully alive in him, he will nurture ours. 

Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.’

3 John 1:2

 

Lucy Holden