Sunday, September 6, 2009

Disease: The Story We Tell Ourselves

So what's the story we tell ourselves about disease...?

- We tell ourselves that disease is just a part of the human condition -- that it's unavoidable.

- We tell ourselves that it's powerful - more powerful than our body's ability to resist it.

- We tell ourselves that we must go to great lengths to prevent disease, and then to treat disease, and yet we resign ourselves to suffering from disease.

But what about our bodies being fearfully and wonderfully made? What about our amazing immune system? What about how we have the Mind of Christ?

What if we need to shift from seeing our bodies as weak, and disease as strong -- to seeing our bodies as strong, and disease is fragile...?

All of creation, including the crowning pinnacle of creation - our bodies - declare the glory of God. Read Psalm 19:1-3:

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.


And, Romans 2:20 -

20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity


And Job 12:7-10 -

7"But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;
And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
8"Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9"Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
10In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?


Could we not also say, "ask your body and it will tell you - it will teach you of God's glory. As your cells, ask your immune system, ask the endocrine system, ask the circulatory and nervous systems .. and they will define the nature of the infinite God to you."

It seems to me that we, as always, have a choice. We can continue to fear our bodies, to criticize and find fault with them ... we can continue to not trust them. If we make that choice, we are also saying that we do not trust the One who made our bodies.

Christ, Who is the visible expression of the invisible God -- is manifest in our bodies! The wisdom and Presence of God fills all that He has made - He permeates our bodies! God is not separate from that which He has created -- and this includes our bodies (Col 3:4).

Instead, we have chosen to listen to the wisdom of man, the traditions of man, resulting in our fear and ignorance ...

And yet -- we can escape from this collective consciousness of mankind..! More on that next...

Shalom, Dena

3 comments:

Harry Riley said...

Dena - the flood of positive energy that flows from all your posts is almost inebriating. I have to stand back a bit to take in the whole picture, but it's allways a small masterpiece.

Yes, let's ask our fearfully and wonderfully made bodies their opinion. They, like everything which makes up the totality of who we are, is made in that same glorious image, and reflects All That Is. And All That Is doesn't do Dis-Ease: He is our Rest.

Let's believe this, live this. It'll take a forgetting of former things and a reaching out to all that's allways been ours , but isn't it just so worthwhile?:)

I'm game.

Harry

Dena said...

Your comments are pure poetry...!

It's rather like jumping off of a cliff ... but notice how, when we dare to do so, that not only has God led us to this cliff of our previous understanding, but that after we take that leap-of-faith, He either catches us, or else teaches us to FLY...!

I'm game right with you, Harry!

Shalom, Dena

Harry Riley said...

He's the Wind beneath my wings, as that fine song has it, Dena. As we get used to those wings, we see that just tipping a feather here and there can send us gliding, soaring, diving in another, equally wonderful direction. And we see that the air we're flying in is Life, and 'that more Abundantly'...

And never any need to get in a flap;)

Harry