Currencies of Wellness

How do you know your body is not well?  What are the external signs?  What are the internal causes for the body not being well?  These are the questions we ask in diagnosing the health of our body.  Our body’s wellness depends on a number of interconnected systems: the muscular, skeletal, nervous, respiratory and digestive, etc.  The most important of all the systems is the circulatory system which is an organ system that passes nutrients to and from cells in the body to help fight diseases and help stabilize body temperature and pH to maintain homeostasis.  The other major part of wellness has to do with the cycle of work and rest – when we are awake, we are doing things, exercising and moving the different systems; when are asleep, all the systems rest and restore themselves.  Using the body as an analogy for community, we can also ask: what are the different cycles and systems that make up a healthy sustainable community?  We also need to know whether the community has a balance between rest and work.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. (Exodus 20:8-10)

The weekly Sabbath as described in the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments is key to creating a healthy sustainable community.  Once we stop working, how should we spend our time? Notice in this text, male and female servants, sons and daughters, livestock and resident aliens are named specifically as ones who may rest on Sabbath day. When people of different status and power roles are all asked to stop working, I believe we are to encounter each other as just people and not in our roles in our families, work and society.  In doing so, we may notice that our social relationships are not respectful with mutual flow of exchange, our resources are not recirculating, and our environment is not regenerating itself because its cycles are being disrupted. 

A sustainist community must be socially well; we are able to listen to each other building respectful relationships across social, economical and political barriers.  A sustainist community must be economically well; those who have resources will provide a time and place for people of the community to have Sabbath – time to restore, to play, to celebrate and most importantly, time to encounter others from different sectors of the community as fellow human beings.  Financial resources will flow towards developing leadership and maintaining places where truthful relationships can be nurtured and where truth can be told and acted upon.  A sustainist community must be ecologically well; we understand our interconnectedness – the earth, the wind, the rain, the air, the plants, the animals, and humankind.  If one part of the system is not well, it impacts the rest. A sustainist community takes regular Sabbaths to observe how our financial, human and natural resources are circulating and then takes actions to restore the flow of blessings.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. (Thomas Ken, 1637-1711)

Invite members of your community to gather for a time of Sabbath: Invite participants to spend at least an hour to play games that are age-appropriate, interactive and non-competitive. Then invite them to sit or lie down in a comfortable place and listen to meditative music for 15 minutes. Invite participants to sit with someone they don’t know and have a community meal together. Then invite them form small groups of 3 people and walk silently around the neighborhood for 30 minutes and return. Invite each group to spend time to write down what they notice during the walk. Invite each group to share. Invite participant to consider the following question: As a result of being part of this day of Sabbath, what am I called to do?

Reflection Questions for 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year B) Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16    How did you learn from this story about covenant with God? Psalm 22:22-30   What are the reasons for us to pray God as expressed in this psalm? Romans 4:13-15   What does it mean to have faith? Mark 8:31-38   How does this story challenge your idea of a savior?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first  two opportunities: March 14–18, 2012 Face to Face Seeing and Hearing Each Other . . . Knowing God Creative liturgy & music for a diverse and changing world An ecumenical gathering of church leaders to create worship experiences that are authentic, relational and missional