WE ARE MORE THAN PHYSICAL BEINGS

By REVEREND TONY ZEKVELD

I can appreciate the concerns expressed for health and hygiene during this pandemic, especially toward the elderly and the immune-compromised. 

But my concern is also broader. I am seeing personal, harmful effects due to social distancing and isolation. There is the other side – the mental, the social and the spiritual side. Mental health is now a growing concern. Anxiety and depression are on the rise. Hugs, friendly handshakes, or a pat on the shoulder, they all belong to a narrative of the past. Expressions of warmth and joy are hidden behind face coverings. Face time has now become zoom time. It feels like the sense of human touch is gone.  

I understand the concern. No one wants to contract the virus. 

Yet we are whole beings – more than mere physical beings, more than a collection of cells. We are emotional, spiritual, mental and physical beings. That’s the way God made us. I recall hearing a sad story at a funeral. A man lost his wife to cancer. The daughters couldn’t help but ‘break the rules’ and hug their father. He broke down, weeping. The healing touch overwhelmed him. He felt the love and concern. One daughter, however, was upset by concern for the physical health of her father. But these hugs probably did more for his physical health than we realize.

I understand that you feel the conundrum with me. You cannot ignore the spiritual, emotional, mental health of a person. God did not create us to live in isolation.

In the neighbourhood where I live, I see the fear. I feel the anxiety and distrust. I hear the frustration and even anger. I am not minimizing the threat of the virus. I am simply bringing out the harmful effect of reducing life to the “physical” or ‘biological’ dimension of a person. This tells me that our society is living out of a narrative which communicates that there is no hope beyond this life.

Hope is what we need. God offers this firm hope in Jesus, who sacrificed His life on the cross for sinners and rose again; to give life, eternal life, to all who trust in Him for salvation. By trusting in Him, we may confess that we belong to Him, body and soul, in life and in death! There’s no greater comfort than that!!

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