Research on Religion, Spirituality and Health – Crossroads, January, 2012

As I try to do regularly, I’m passing along a link to the current issue – January, 2012 – of Crossroads, a newsletter from the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University.

This publication explores the research in the field of religion, spirituality and health.  Topics addressed in this issue include:

• Unmet Spiritual Needs Impact Cancer Patients
• Role of Spiritual and Religious Coping in Advanced Cancer
• Suicide and Religion Among Young Persons in Rural China
• Randomized Trial of Spiritual Assessment in Patients with Schizophrenia
• Religious Involvement and Self-Rated Health in Europe
• Trauma-focused Spiritual Intervention in Veterans
• Special Issue of Journal of Behavioral Medicine devoted to Spirituality
• Mayo Clinic Spiritual Care Research Conference
• HealthCare Chaplaincy $1.5 Million Call for Proposals

Read more posts about the Research in religion, spirituality and health.

Health Care You Can Live With – Love and Your Personal Choices

Here are my thoughts from my reading of Health Care You Can Live With by Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee. The excerpts below are directly from the referenced chapters.

Excerpts From Chapters 21 and 22

Real love provides the strength to deal with the adversities of life.

“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:4

Love doesn’t come from Hollywood, it comes from God. God loved Jesus, and Jesus revealed God to us. Out of love, God sent Jesus. Out of love, Jesus sacrificed himself so that we could be connected to God without any barrier in between. And out of experience of God’s love, we love others.  Love is a profound dedication and sense of commitment to another human being. Love will do what it take to help that person experience more wholeness – health – as a body and spirit created and loved by God.

Love is the engine of life. It is the essence of who we are as human beings. We miss the truth that God does not love us because we deserve it but because God chooses to.

God loves you.

Loving yourself is instrumental to your health. It is essential to caring for yourself.

Are you so stressed by the demands of your life that treating yourself with love doesn’t even make the list of what you will attempt? Treat yourself with love. It will be good for your health.

Practice matters. Without practice, few play the game (of life) well under stress. Without practiced patterns, we lack a meaningful context for important decisions. Without practiced patterns, sudden stress knocks us off our feet. Without practiced patterns, suffering throws us into a tailspin.

Decision moments come at unexpected times. If you have not examined what’s important to you in times of calm, you won’t know how to respond in times of stress. You can develop a way of living that gives you joy akin to winning the lottery. You can take steps toward health care or you can live with.

Know yourself. Many people come to us with illnesses or physical diseases but the more substantial question is this: What causes the behaviors that lead to the physical distress? So often patients don’t make the connection. They may understand, for instance that eating too much causes them to carry an unhealthy weight. But why do they eat the way they do? That they may not know. They haven’t ‘connected the dots‘ between the stress factors in their lives and their eating habits. And it’s not unlikely their eating habits will change until they do connect the dots. It’s difficult to change behaviors if the core reason behind the behavior doesn’t change.

It comes down to personal choice to change, and change starts in identifying what’s wrong in the first place. If virtues are not a part of your life – guiding your choices, values, and relationships – then making choices that lead to a fuller, or whole life won’t matter to you. If you don’t feel good about your ability to be a whole person for yourself and others, you will have a terrible time navigating the kinds of change that will make you healthier physically and spiritually.

You’re in charge. You are the expert in your own health care, and you can be in charge of this process.

Individual choices to practice healthy behaviors come down to caring for the body God gave us because we understand we are whole beings created and loved by God, body-and-spirit.

Exploring the whole meaning of wellness for body-and-spirit allows you to decide on your own health care because you were actively caring for the whole you, rather than waiting for a doctor to fix you after you break. You can take the turn and decide to practice good health behaviors and truly love the body God gave you.

My Comments:

I agree wholeheartedly with Morris that unless you are able to “connect the dots” between your sickness or condition and what is at the root of the behaviors that likely caused the problem, you’re not likely to change the behavior. Often, their is a root issue that is driving the unhealthy behavior.

Each of us have the capacity to choose our lifestyles. Our day to day choices determine our habits, which in turn largely determine our health status. And, I believe that we must make a choice deep in our will that we are going to make healthy choices as this is a big factor in being successful at healthy living.

When is the last time that you got alone with God and made a commitment with him – deep in your will – to care for your body as God’s temple?

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Connecting the Dots

Read about our Faith and Health Ambassador training course that teaches you how to “Connect the Dots.”

Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time of the year that we celebrate the birth of God’s Son, Jesus, who came to point the way to his Father and to offer salvation for our souls.  Jesus came that you might know his Father and have life to its fullest.

“My purpose is to give life in all it’s fullest.”  John 10:10

As we mature in our faith we realize that our ‘full life’ is not for us alone, but its purpose is to glorify God and to spread his love to others, through us.  That’s where our health comes into play.  The more healthy we are emotionally and physically the better able we are to love and serve others.  And our spiritual health impacts on other aspects of our health.

As you near Christmas Day, let the love of God and his Son sink deep into your heart. Deep in your will, decide to let go of anything that is not love…. and replace it with the love of Jesus.

That’s why Jesus was born.  That’s Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you!

Worried? Anxious? What Does Jesus Tell Us?

Are you worried? Anxious about something…. or your life? Research shows that chronic anxiety or worry can contribute to health problems.

You might well be aware of the verse in the Bible where Jesus teaches his disciples not to worry because God will provide.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.“  Matthew 6:25-34

When you read this scripture what do you take from it? Specifically, why should you be able to not worry? Finish this sentence – “I don’t have to worry because….”

This passage in Matthew was the focus of a recent Bible study I attend. What came to me clearly was the significance of what Jesus says at the end of verse 26.  He asks his followers, “Are you not much more valuable than they(the birds)?”

To God, you are so very, very valuable. This is huge! Do you really believe and know how much God loves you and how valuable you are to him? Jesus wants us to know this deep in our hearts?  If we can let this sink in….. and we can remember and truly believe how much God loves us, we won’t need to worry.  We’ll be able to trust that God will provide.

How much does god love you? Here’s what the Bible tells us – “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 That’s just what God’s Son did for you. He gave his life for you. So, may you have the power and ability to understand how wide and long and high and deep the love of God is for you. Ephesians 3:18 And in this, may you not worry but trust, have faith…. and be in good health.

Helpful Resources

Other Posts About God’s Love