The link between our emotions and our physical health is an established one. And science confirms it more and more with every passing year. "Stress", that ubiquitous, catch-all term, is the number one cause of illness in this country, when you consider the indirect causation, as well as direct. Mind-body connection has always fascinated me, mainly because Scripture speaks of it so clearly:
A sound heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones. Prov. 14:30
For wrath kills a foolish man, and jealousy slays the simple one. Job 5:2
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Pr. 17:22
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Prov. 23:7
There are more scriptures than these...but neither of us have all day to be in front of this computer screen. It is more important now, than ever before, to walk in the peace of God. It is more important now, than ever before, to walk in faith-believing. After all, what we believe about a situation is what creates stress.
When we believe we are somehow the victim, we become jealous. When we believe that "this is too hard", it is. If we believe we are somehow in danger, our heart and our nervous system does not know the difference between the real and the perceived. I've a book on my shelf, entitled Deadly Emotions by Don Colbert, M.D.
Bits and Pieces:
"What one person may consider stressful, another person may not find stressful at all. One person may take planning a dinner party for 40 people...totally in stride, enjoying all aspects of the...process...another person may panic at the idea of giving an informal dinner party for six people. The difference in whether the event was stressful or not lies in the perception - it lies in what the individual believes....when it comes to stress, believing is the key."
"Fear, for example, triggers more than fourteen hundred known physical and chemical stress reactions and activates more than thirty different hormones and neurotransmitters."
"Stress occurs when our perceptions of events don't meet our expectations, and we don't manage our reaction to the disappointment."
"Researchers have directly and scientifically linked emotions to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diseases related to the immune system. Studies have also highly correlated emotions with infections, allergies, and autoimmune diseases."
Lastly, here is a link to an interesting article connecting stress with a woman's health issues:
http://www.womentowomen.com/emotionsandhealth/stressmanagement.aspx
Caveat: though I cannot agree with solutions such as "reiki" and some of the other so-called relaxation techniques mentioned; nevertheless, the information regarding the impact our emotions have on our health is well explored in the above article.
Do whatever you have to do, to reach a place where you can say, "It is well with my soul!" It is my quest, and it will take work...emotional work. We have to "labor" to enter our rest. The results will be well worth the effort. We'll save ourselves a host of physical pains and ailments.
On This Day...
On this day, July 24, 1866, Tennessee became the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the U.S. Civil War.
There are many things I love about my state. I love that we are known as "The Volunteer State" because of the record number of Tennessee men volunteering their "lives and...sacred honor" during the war of 1812. These same men were also noted for an uncommon bravery serving under General Andrew Jackson ("Old Hickory", also a Tennesseean) in the Battle of New Orleans - a strategic US victory in the war of 1812.
But the thing I love the most is that my state was the last to leave the Union, during the Civil War, and was the first to return to it, after the war was over. Say what you will about the War of Northern Aggression, about revisionist history, about the "real reasons" for the Civil War. I have heard both sides of the whole thing. My point is, unity is vital to the success of any endeavor.
It is true that to make a lasting peace, you sometimes have to fight a temporary war. I've seen this played out on the level of personal relationships, as well as the affairs of nations. But it is always the job of the strong and wise to be the last to break relationship, and the first to restore it, when the conditions for peace are met.
Last in leaving. First in putting the country back together. I so love Tennessee.
A Couple Hours of "Margin"
If you have not yet read Richard Swenson's book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, please make some time to read it this summer. It could be the most important book you read this year.
Tim and I are hard workers, who often blur the lines between work and home. Ministry can tend to cross boundaries, and take over your life in places it shouldn't. There is an art to knowing which situations, people, and issues can be tended, or in fact should be tended, when we are trying to play checkers with our kids, or are out on a date, or even trying to finally go to bed at midnight. We do know how to say "no". We say no without guilt. And yet sometimes, the answer must be "yes." Since Tim can often be found legitimately working at the church building, or ministering during what should be considered our "down time", we snatch time for relaxation at what would be considered odd hours. Say, from 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock in the evening.
We terribly tempted fate yesterday. A big storm was brewing in our area, but we wanted to get out in the "Spam Can" - my name for the tiny Geo Tracker convertible we keep on hand for our jaunts to the mountains. After a long morning-into-afternoon spent tending to all the "must do's", Tim came home and peeled the vinyl top off of our little red car. We knew if the impending storm cut loose a moment too soon, we would be drenched. Somehow, that made it even more fun.
It was just two or three hours, not a minute more. But it was one of those brief interludes where time takes on an elastic quality - it had the effect of a whole day. Come with us, and see what "margin" can do for you!
The Spam Can!
Waiting for our Diet Cokes...
Crazy Convertible Hair...
Soup, Salad, Chips n' Salsa
Now Where To?
Ah yes, the lake...
See the storm coming? Time to head home!
Tim and I are hard workers, who often blur the lines between work and home. Ministry can tend to cross boundaries, and take over your life in places it shouldn't. There is an art to knowing which situations, people, and issues can be tended, or in fact should be tended, when we are trying to play checkers with our kids, or are out on a date, or even trying to finally go to bed at midnight. We do know how to say "no". We say no without guilt. And yet sometimes, the answer must be "yes." Since Tim can often be found legitimately working at the church building, or ministering during what should be considered our "down time", we snatch time for relaxation at what would be considered odd hours. Say, from 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock in the evening.
We terribly tempted fate yesterday. A big storm was brewing in our area, but we wanted to get out in the "Spam Can" - my name for the tiny Geo Tracker convertible we keep on hand for our jaunts to the mountains. After a long morning-into-afternoon spent tending to all the "must do's", Tim came home and peeled the vinyl top off of our little red car. We knew if the impending storm cut loose a moment too soon, we would be drenched. Somehow, that made it even more fun.
It was just two or three hours, not a minute more. But it was one of those brief interludes where time takes on an elastic quality - it had the effect of a whole day. Come with us, and see what "margin" can do for you!
The Spam Can!
Waiting for our Diet Cokes...
Crazy Convertible Hair...
Soup, Salad, Chips n' Salsa
Now Where To?
Ah yes, the lake...
See the storm coming? Time to head home!
It Is Everything, or Nothing At All
"He (God) never talked vague, idealistic gas. When He said, 'Be perfect,' He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder - in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (1952)
~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (1952)
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Holy Spirit, Shower Upon Me...
At the beginning of the growing season, I splurged on a handy-dandy, six-setting nozzle for my water hose. Pardon me, as I must breathlessly, with flushed cheek, exclaim that it has changed my gardening life forever! I'll never again be without this fantastic accessory.
I have found that every setting is important. Each satisfying "click" of the end of the nozzle, with its descriptive label, has a distinct use in the garden.
Isa 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden...
We are in a drought here in East Tennessee. And having thriving, well-watered gardens means a whole lot more than turning on a water hose, hooking your thumb on the opening for pressure-control, and "having at it". Various parts of the garden need various watering applications. Different plants need different watering technique. Sometimes the way a garden needs watering can be unique to the time of day. You don't want to throw water on everything in the heat of the afternoon sun.
And thus He waters me. Carefully. Thoughtfully. Thoroughly. Not too much (it runs off, not soaking my roots), not too little (I wither). Differently, each day. Sometimes a long drink. Other times, a quick, freshening mist. After all, He is the master-gardener, and I am His garden.
The other day, just for fun, I spun the dial on my handy-dandy, gidget-gadget water-nozzle-tool, and imagined each setting as a God-thing. What if....oh, what if....the Holy Spirit visited me, according to my need, and imparted to me:
a mist - ..."there went up a mist from the earth, refreshing the whole face of the ground..."
a shower - ...and there shall be showers of blessing....
a soaking - (in answer to prayer, ) "Gideon rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water."
a rinse - "wash me throughly from mine iniquity...
a bucket filler - "and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began speaking in tongues..."
a power wash (!) - "That he might sanctify and cleanse (the church) with the washing of water by the word..."
I went as far as my imagination dared, and still be within the boundaries of Biblical exegesis. I confess, watering my garden has never been a dull chore since!
A Reason-able God
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.
A fitting subtitle to my post would be "The Call to Prayer". I'm sure James 3:17 has been used by some Bible teacher, somewhere, as a text for prayer, but I've never heard it done. All true wisdom comes from God, because God-in-Christ is the personification of Wisdom. Wisdom is a Person. Each word that can be used to describe heavenly wisdom, is also a sure adjective for God, as sure as you could describe me as having green eyes, small hands, and no tattoos. "The Sheila that comes from Tennessee is first a brunette, green-eyed, small hands, without tattoos or an expensive car."
"But the God that comes from above is first pure..." oh, His name is Holy! The next phrase that stops me in mid-breath is "open to reason".
"Come, let us reason together says the Lord."
"Test Me in this."
"Seek, and you'll find."
The perfect wisdom of God trumps my weak human reasoning every time, but still...He has no desire for monologue with me. He wants dialogue. He wants me to come reason with Him. He is open to hear my thoughts and questions - and in fact, that is the first step towards the aligning of my mind to His. If I'll just pray. If I'll just reason with Him. If I'll just speak to him without ambiguity, or insincerity.
I've been reading (again) the book "The Kneeling Christian". This book is an old classic, written by "An Unknown Christian". You just HAVE to love that. Somebody wanted not one penny of royalties from a book that has probably sold a half million copies by now.
Choice Bits:
Much secret prayer means much public power.
If God were to answer the words we repeated on our knees this morning, should we know it? Should we recognize the answer?
Why, the wonder is not that we pray so little, but that we can ever get up from our knees if we realize our own need; the needs of our home and our loved ones; the needs of our pastor and the church; the needs of our city....
When we stand with Christ in glory, looking o'er life's finished story, the most amazing feature of that life as it is looked back upon will be its prayerlessness.
What is prayer? It is a sign of spiritual life. I should as soon expect life in a dead man, as spiritual life in a prayerless soul. Our spirituality and our fruitfulness are always in proportion to the reality of our prayers.
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