Health

Health is what we need more than anything.

Jesus announced the kingdom of God with miracles, many of those miracles of healing. And we need healing, or health, today just as much as blind people needed sight, paralyzed people needed strength, and chronically ill people needed a remedy 2000 years ago.

The church has focused its efforts on saving people. The word save literally means “to heal.” Save comes from the same root word that salve does. Putting a healing salve on someone is analogous with saving them.

Health is what we need more than figuring out the right system of church. Health is what we need more than figuring out which political party is right. Health is what we need more than figuring out which side is right in every dispute under the sun (from marital conflict to world wars).

We need healing for our anxiety, greed, depression, anger, mania, arrogance, and hatred. We need healing from whatever it is that keeps us from working out conflicts one-on-one with those who offend us instead of backstabbing them or finding creative technological ways to slander them. We need healing from whatever it is that keeps us from forgiving. We need healing from whatever it is that keeps us from breaking the cycle of unhealth we’ve inherited. We need a way to perpetuate health to future generations. We need healing for whatever it is that keep us focused on fulfilling our own wants and needs instead of being healthy enough to generously give ourselves away to others.

I only know this is true because I too need such healing.