Shalom-Based Self-Care And Communal Care

As with vehicles, our 'wheels' may need some balancing and realignment from time to time.

I had the privilege of meeting with some 50 members of the Eastern Mennonite School staff and faculty today to talk about wellness. I had almost turned their invitation down when I first received it just days before my open heart surgery set for July 5. But then I reconsidered, thinking there may be no better time to discuss good self care than after recognizing from personal experience how important it really is.

We began by focusing on the health and harmony of the original creation as a template for the kind of wellbeing(shalom) we seek, and on how God is about restoring 'whatever is marred and whatever is missing' in our personal lives and in our relationships with others and with all of creation.

Each person then chose a number between 0-10 with for each area on the above 'wellness wheel' with 0 representing extreme dissatisfaction with that part of our lives, and a 10 indicating complete satisfaction. Individuals then shared with others at their table the areas of growth they are most interested in working on in the coming year, and some concrete steps they are intending to take in order to facilitate that growth,

We discussed the need to not only increase our resolve to pursuing growth, but to make ourselves accountable to engage in the kinds of new practices that turn those goals into actual achievements. Most of us already know what new habits we need to develop in order to see that happen.

Ultimately, the world cannot become fully whole except to the extent each of us experiences it ourselves, and none can be completely whole as individuals without the wholeness and wellness of everyone else, and of every other part of creation.

We wait in expectation and with a sense of participation with God in seeing that kind of ultimate shalom come to pass.

Here's another relevant link: https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2015/03/can-we-have-faith-based-self-interest.html