Intellectual Wellness

In Christian understanding, there is often a false dichotomy between the body and the mind (or spirit or even soul), as if one of these is preferable to the other, as if one is more holy. And outside the church, the physical is often the “real” world, while the mind is fanciful or speculative or even dreaming. Christians on the other hand are encouraged to keep body and mind together as one cohesive creation of the loving God. Our paradox more accurately is to live as “Flesh and Spirit” -- meaning we combine what works against God and what embraces God’s action, rather than a simplistic human body and spiritual soul, or as Martin Luther put it -- we exist as both “Sinner and Saint.” But the human body and the mind/soul/spirit are one. Our world so influenced by Western Philosophy often appears to embrace the Greek concept of a physical body and a divine soul. Yet, by faith we do not confess some disengaged immortal soul which leaves the body at death, rather in the Creeds we confess to believe in the resurrection of the body!
So, as we move into our second Wellness topic: Intellectual, it is good to begin by keeping the physical and intellectual together. We appreciate the one, as we focus on the other. We can keep up hopes to lose weight (15 pounds so far for me in three weeks) or better sleep practices or improving general health or continuing exercise routines. And we can challenge ourselves intellectually – more structured reading time (how about the Bible and devotional literature!) or attending Adult Study Sunday mornings before church or outside church-life also engaging in some mind-challenging efforts.
This is all part of developing the whole person God has created and redeemed, living in our one being a physical and intellectual person who acts to “Love the Lord your God with heart and soul and mind” – engaging our complete person, or the person we are in body and mind, which will be completed by the Lord!