I Made It!!!!

Hello Emmanuel,

Well, the holidays are over and guess what?  I’m HEALTHY!  This is the first time in 3 years that I’ve been able to make such a claim.  True, I may get the flu next week, but I’ve been healthy thus far and I’ve not taken it for granted.

Not everyone is healthy right now, however.  It seems every year there is more and more talk about the different strains of the flu and how it can impact a community.  Nursing homes, schools and hospitals are especially hit hard.  No one likes to have their life put on hold by spending time in a bed while feeling awful.

And yet there is another kind of illness that I also see this time of year.  I can’t always put my finger on it, but it seems to be spiritual in nature.  My conversations with people this time of year take on a different tone than in other times of the year.  People tend to be grasping at emotional kinds of issues, struggling with internal tensions that reside in their hearts.

People are often commenting to me why there seems to be more illness and death right after the holidays.  I’m not a doctor or a psychologist, but I can’t help but wonder about the role that spiritual illness plays in the midst of what we see with physical illness.  The connection between the spirit and the body is a mystery that has been looked at throughout the course of human history and from an infinite number of angles.

The Christian perspective is to encourage you to stay connected to the Divine.  A healthy relationship with God creates a kind of peace that surpasses all understanding.  From my own personal experience, when my relationship with God is right, I’m able deal with adversity in a much more constructive way.  Even if it all goes wrong and I moan and complain, if I feel right with God, I seem to get through the tough stuff in better shape.

So how do you stay connected to God?  Pray, worship, serve and give.  Those are the ways I connect.  It’s a reminder to me that all is okay with the Universe because God has made it so…. Even if I don’t feel like it is.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe