Love the images that my guest blogger, Carey Arber, included in this post! Carey is the Christian Science Media Representative and Legislative Liaison for New South Wales.
“Two fish were swimming along in the ocean when one said to the other, “I just don’t FEEL the water today.” Well, it’s there, of course!” — Sarah C. Nelson’s article in the Christian Science Sentinel goes on to explain how Love is always around us, even if we feel somehow disconnected — it’s there, of course!
Mental health is a big healthcare agenda item globally. The way we think affects our behaviour, and ultimately our wellbeing, for better or for worse. Professionals and students of various disciplines – medical science, traditional oriental medicine, nursing, psychology, social studies, social welfare, meditation, and others are on a continuous search for answers to a growing problem.
An Australian online booklet, ‘Health Beyond’ (mental health e-health brief, p.11) talks about the power of a hug and how important human touch is to us. Though we know this to be the case, researchers want scientific evidence of what happens to the body as a result of such acts. I know what happens to me – if it’s a genuine hug, I feel a wave of love. But that’s not what someone suffering depression may say.
BEYOND SCIENCE AND BORDERS
Next month, 25-28 August, the ‘21st World Congress on Psychosomatic Medicine’ will be held in Seoul, Korea. The invitation: “…join us and be part of this emerging, inter-disciplinary field…” … “to exchange advanced knowledge of the interaction between mind and body and the mechanisms of diseases.” … “In addition, we are going to extend our topics to areas beyond science and borders, as the main theme of the Congress suggests.” Topics include mental health.
Definition of psychosomatic: of, relating to, involving, or concerned with bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance.
It’s not new to researchers and lay people, that stress and emotions are significant factors in causing illness. Also, that something as simple as a hug can have a healing effect.
According to Wikipedia, psychosomatic medicine treatment includes “positive thinking” and “mind over matter” concepts. Besides scads of books and papers on these subjects, the search goes on because thinkers are not satisfied with baseless concepts.
As a Christian Scientist I recognize the importance of going beyond positive thinking or mind over matter. The discoverer and founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, identified specific synonyms for God – one of them is divine Mind – the source of intelligence, opposite to the idea of material mind (brain). All good ideas, like loving thoughts shown in a hug, come from divine Mind. The Bible teaches that ‘God is love‘. A guiding statement in Eddy’s book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, ”You must control evil thoughts in the first instance, or they will control you in the second.” She understood that “all cause and effect are mental.” Evil thoughts are any thoughts that are not good; not from divine Mind. The Master Christian healer, Christ Jesus, cast out anything that God did not create – including mental illness (called evil spirits or devils at that time). Eddy referred to Christ Jesus as “the most scientific man who ever trod the globe”.
If you, or anyone you know is feeling “disconnected” in some way, think again. We have divine authority to expect change for good. Great thinkers are trying to find answers, and in the meantime see how people have found answers and healing through thinking spiritually (type your search word in the ‘search the site’ field).
I for one am interested to see the outcome of the aforementioned congress being held in Seoul, with regards to… “In addition, we are going to extend our topics to areas beyond science and borders, as the main theme of the Congress suggests.”
What do they mean by “beyond science and borders”? Watch this space!
Spotlight on Spirituality and Health 