Everything is Connected

One of the hardest but healthiest decisions I’ve made in the last year is to visit a chiropractor. I had a variety of nicks, knocks, tendon strains, and disjointed what-not.

After extensive conversation about what hurts and what doesn’t, we set to work on my ITB (iliotibial band) which is a tendon that runs from your hip down the outside of your leg and across the front of your knee.

There was an elbow digging into my thigh.
There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In the end, I felt better.

There was a memorable moment, however, when my chiropractor pressed on an area of my back that led to pain in my lower leg.

What in the world?

What followed was an informative lesson in human physiology that I will sum up like this: everything is connected.

The Truth About Our Connected Souls

Our bodies, minds, and spirits are incredibly complex. We have millions of neurons that help create memories. Our bodies teem with vast stretches of vascular tunnels that haul blood to our various physical “departments.” Everything in us interacts and dances.  Our spiritual lives are part of this divine choreography.

The soul of a human being is completely inclusive.

Cultivating the health of our soul requires physical health – with obvious caveats for things we cannot control such as bacterial and viral infections.

Shaping the health of our soul requires mental health in a sense of how we tend to the things we put into our minds.

Cultivating the health of our soul requires that we’re honest about our emotions however they appear and whenever they appear.

The wisdom of Jesus is so helpful because He interacts with every piece of the human person. He addresses the spiritual condition of a wealthy man, but not through his theology – through his fear of scarcity.

His stuff stunted his soul.

He addresses the quality of life of a broken man descending through a broken roof. Jesus doesn’t begin with healing his body, however. Instead, he brings the man’s apparent distance from God to a close.

How to Save a Soul

The saving of souls, a familiar piece of language, is more than just a rescue of some untouchable and supernatural part of a person.

Salvation is the rescue of an integrated person and the network of integrated people throughout the world.

In that case, what we need most is to understand the way our soul is connected.

Can our conversational relationship with God in prayer expand and freshen if we stretch our bodies a bit first?

Can our service to our families, friends, and community grow sweeter and more impactful if we seek some counseling for emotional wounds from our past?

Could our marital issues & struggles be attached to our lack of sleep, overconsumption of media, or eating habits out of whack?

Of course, the vision of God for our connected souls works both ways. My chiropractor pushed on a part of my back and my leg experienced pain. Yet once that part of my back became loose and smooth, the pain in my leg disappeared as well.

The God of the spirit is the God of the body, mind, and hands. What will we learn today by exploring the way that everything is connected?

(Photo by Clint Adair on Unsplash)