All of Me 

Throughout January, we have been running a series at EBC entitled “All of Me”. It has to do with loving God with everything we are – soul, mind, body and spirit – and if you have not been able to take part, I encourage you to catch up on the first three parts via our YouTube channel – you’ll find the soul, mind and body talks in these links. 

The fourth part of the series was about our human spirit being in connection with God’s Spirit, and in our Allsorts service (not recorded) we had some fascinating conversations as we meditated on passages of Scripture together. We then had a Spirit-filled church meeting! 

At the end of each year, I always make some resolutions and this year I resolved that amongst other things I will do everything I can to get on top of the asthma and rhinitis that have been bothering me over the last 18 months or so. I thought I’d share something of the things that I’ve discovered as I’ve started to do just that, as I have found that they fit very closely with the things we have been talking about in our “All of Me” series. 

We are holistic creatures. We cannot completely separate out the parts of ourselves – even linguistically this can be problematic, as we realise when we try to sort out soul from spirit, mind from brain (body), and consciousness. We should not be surprised when things that initially impact upon one facet of ourselves have a ripple effect on the other parts. Things that stress us out, hurt our feelings or cause us emotional distress may trouble our mind or cause anguish in our soul, but chances are they will also affect our body. Similarly, if we don’t take care of our bodies, you can be sure our spirits will sink, our soul will be uneasy and our mental health will suffer too. 

If we take junk into ourselves (physically, mentally, spiritually) it will affect us physically, mentally and spiritually – and it will wizen our very soul. I don’t just mean that in the obvious sense (that the physical junk will affect us physically and so on) but I mean it more broadly – physical junk will affect us mentally, and vice versa, and so on. 

In my case, I have to come to think that a very stressful time (on the run up to finishing my degree and being ordained a couple of years ago) impacted me not only mentally and spiritually but also affected me physically. Thankfully, I was taking care to eat well and exercise vigorously throughout that time (as always, I hope!) but I was not resting and sleeping properly, and I was troubled in my soul. Following my ordination, just as I was preparing for some major physical challenges (an XCC wilderness adventure in the Brecon Beacons, followed by an powerlifting competition), I was hit by a chest infection that signalled the beginning of the 18 months or so of asthma/rhinitis problems I mentioned earlier. 

I love being physically active and despite the asthma exacerbations and blocked nose I had a great year of powerlifting competitions and some arduous hiking too. However, I was also frustrated when I sometimes found that I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do (like hiking, running and singing) as well as I could if I’d be able to breathe properly – a clear nose and lungs kind of help you do those things! I’m also very keen to keep learning new things, and to that end I tend to watch podcasts while I’m doing the family ironing. Over time, and lots of ironing, I learned more about nutrition, sleep, alcohol, the gut biome, the immune system and (importantly) the deleterious effects of chronic inflammation. Since asthma and rhinitis are inflammatory conditions, I got really interested, delved a lot deeper, and concluded that despite my previously healthy approach (I thought with some justification!), further adjustments to my activity, nutrition and recovery were in order. 

In essence, stress, overload, too little rest and sleep, on top of too much training, supported by too many carbohydrates across too much of the day have, I believe, left me open to colds and chest infections, which in turn have affected my upper and lower respiratory tracts – triggering chronic rhinitis and asthma. It turns out that, for me, these two associated conditions are a bit like the ‘canary in the coalmine’ of chronic inflammation! I won’t bore you with the changes I have made, but the point is I’ve made a careful assessment and made some changes to better look after myself – spirit, mind, body and soul. Most of the changes are directly related to the body (R.A.N. = Rest, Activity, Nourishment) but the effects are noticeable on the whole of me – spirit, mind and soul as well as body – just as the effects of stress and overload affected the whole of me in the first place. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about healing lately too, and the number of people I know with something that ails them – myself included! I guess we’d all say “I’d like to be healed” – right? Whether it has to do with an illness, an injury, stress, trauma, relational breakdown, unforgiveness… whatever. Yesterday, a story from the New Testament popped into my mind – it’s in the apostle John’s account of Jesus’s life, at chapter 5, verses 1 to 9: 

After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralysed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once 

the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. (NRSVA) 

The bit that always stands out for lots of people is Jesus’s question “Do you want to be made well?” or “Do you want to be healed?” as it is sometimes translated. I mean, if it wasn’t Jesus, we’d probably be saying “Er… durrr… of course he wants to be healed!” Since it was Jesus asking though, and since it’s been much on my mind to be healed of my asthma and rhinitis, I have some questions for you. 

1. What ails you? What’s wrong, what’s making you sick, or ill, anxious or depressed? What’s dragging your spirits down? What has wounded your soul? What’s stressing you out? What is it about your body, your mind, your spirit or soul that you know, deep down, isn’t as healthy as it should be? 

2. Do you want to be made well? Do you want to be healed of that which ails you? 

3. Are you praying to be made well, to be healed? 

Before I get to question 4, please take some time to ponder those first three questions. I hope that you will – if not now, then later on, in a quiet time maybe, when it’s just between you and God. 

OK, here comes question number 4… 

4. Do your actions match up with your prayers? 

My New Year’s resolutions are always brought to God in prayer, but they also include the line “So far as it depends on me…” That way, I’m partnering with God, I’m not just asking for a miracle. Not that we 

can’t ask for miracles, of course, but it seems a bit rich to ask for more vim and vigour, say, and then sit on the sofa eating junk all day, drink alcohol all weekend and stay up till 2am! 

Saint Augustine said “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” I’m reminded too of the old story about the drowning Christian who trusts that God will rescue him from the flood. He turns away a dinghy, a canoe and eventually a helicopter, on the basis that he is simply trusting God to save him. He drowns and finds himself face to face with God. “Lord!” says our guy, perplexed. “I prayed that you’d save me!” God looks at him and smiles wryly. “Son, I sent you two boats and a helicopter – meet me halfway!” 

If you’d like to learn more about using your body, mind, spirit and soul to love God with all you’ve got and all that you are, check out our talks above, and the additional resources below. Oh, and do yourself a favour – think about the four questions above, and think deeply and prayerfully. Me, well, I’m praying for healing but I’m doing the right things (and avoiding the wrong ones) to ensure my actions line up with my prayers. How about you? 

Simon Lace 

Minister, EBC 

Resources

Books:
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision by William Lane Craig

Podcasts:
How to Reverse Diabetes and Prevent Early Death – interview with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee & Dr. David Unwin
World-leading alcohol expert: What alcohol does to your body, brain & health – ZOE Science and Nutrition interview with Professor David Nutt

Video:
Is the Soul Real? Neuroscience’s Surprising Answer: Discovery Science with Michael Egnor

Dissertation:
Being the Temple of the Holy Spirit: To what extent might physical fitness be a Component of Christian Spirituality? by Simon Lace (email simon.lace@ebc-bracknell.org)