Unhealthy preoccupations and callousness with health

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As one looks around and engages with people, one can see unhealthy preoccupations and callousness around health.

Physical Health

The first issue is an unhealthy preoccupation with physical health. The body is the temple of the spirit and should be taken care of. A healthy diet, reasonable exercise, and healthy habits are important, but there is a culture of preoccupation with the body as the center of life. This is evidenced by the increasing number of executive full-body checkups and full-body scans that people undergo on a regular basis, as well as a preoccupation with any minor changes that laboratory tests reveal. The average person may not realize that there is a huge industry that wants them as their trusted client.

There is also the health and nutritional supplement industry that promotes every new fad in town as the answer to all your health problems. Not to mention the increasing sales of the cosmetic industry and cosmetic medicine too. All of these contribute to an addictive preoccupation with physical health, to the extent that the body becomes an idol that one worships, and keeping the body healthy becomes the preoccupation around which their lives revolve. We should not forget that God is God, and our bodies are a temple of God that cannot replace God. Let us build our bodies to be that temple.

Emotional Health

The second preoccupation is with emotional health. Post-COVID, there is an epidemic of mental health challenges, and this needs to be understood. Many people are struggling with mental health issues, and it should not be taken lightly. Needed care and support should be provided.

At the same time, we should recognize that there is a bigger cultural change happening around us. Carl R. Trueman, in his excellent book “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self,” writes that the world and culture have moved from the era of idiotic man, political man, religious man, economic man, and now psychological man (and woman). In such a culture, emotions are the center of life. What we feel is who we believe we are. This is something one should be aware of. Our feelings are not who we are. Our identity and who we are go beyond what we feel, and being preoccupied with our feelings is unhealthy. We need to guard our hearts, which are the wellspring of life.

There is also a callous carelessness with which we engage our minds. We need to reflect on the health of our minds. We allow social media, Netflix, AI chat bots, and other information systems to influence our minds. Instead of engaging the mind with intellectually stimulating and life-building information and options, we fill the mind with garbage and junk.

False truths and manipulated information that the media puts out are what many people are occupied with. Garbage in, garbage out is true these days. The output from the average person becomes shallow and not intellectually sound or life-building. Our minds are meant to be transformed and renewed. For such transformation and renewal, we need to engage our minds with what is true, right, pure, and life-giving.

Relational Health

There is also callousness with which we consider community and our relational health. The community is primarily online and virtual in many circles. Even if it is otherwise, it is more about what I can get out of the community than how I can be a channel to build and encourage others.

As Foster says, ‘Superficiality is the curse of our age,’ and this is true for relationships too. We enjoy community and relationships but with boundaries that we set for ourselves. Vulnerability and openness are not part of our communities. We share only what we want to and keep those areas closed that might show us as weak. A true community is one of foot-washers, where we are willing to expose our dirty feet and allow them to be washed by each other. Let’s spur one another on and consider deeper engagement in our communities.

These preoccupations and callousness emerge from an area that we tend to neglect – the health of our soul. Nurturing and preserving the soul should be our priority. Proactively engaging in personal life disciplines that nurture the spirit is foundational for our physical, emotional, intellectual, and relational health. Growing in intimacy with God, who is the giver, protector, and preserver of our soul and spirit, is crucial.

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Mathew Santhosh Thomas is ICMDA Regional Secretary for South Asia