Perfect
Health
“There
exists in every person a place that is free from disease, that never
feels pain, that cannot age or die. When you go to this place,
limitations which all of us accept cease to exist. They are not even
entertained as a possibility...This is the place called perfect
health.”
Deepak
Chopra (Perfect Health)
I'm
sick, so naturally, Perfect Health was the book that jumped
off the shelf at me this morning as I perused for writing material.
I'm happy to say, illness is a rarity for me, and I only have a
winter cold, but I resent it all the same. I've somehow managed until
now to avoid the specter of “the cold and flu season” mostly by
staying away from other living human beings, but, alas, I must have
let my guard down for a moment. I am blaming the “passing of the
peace” segment of our Sunday worship service, which went from being
a nice, clean, Episcopalian, “ May the peace of God be with
you...And also with you.” to bear-hugs and even cheek-kisses in our
loosey-goosey, liberal brand of Christianity. Clearly, it is now the
“passing of the germs!”
Of
course, I know that we come in contact with a plethora of bacteria,
viruses, allergens and fungi every single day of our existence on
Planet Earth. We even have home-grown pathogens living inside our
bodies that, most of the time, our unconquerable immune systems keep
at safe levels. But when you throw in the stress of freezing
temperatures, and wet, moldy weather along with low light, they can't
hold the fort forever. Just about everyone I know is or has been sick
in the past month.
According
to Dr. Chopra, there is a factor called “control by the host,”
meaning that we ourselves man the drawbridge to our castle. Almost a
hundred percent of the time, that bridge is closed, but now and then
there is a crack in the armor that lets the enemy break through.
Our
personal psychology plays an enormous role in this. As with any other
aspect of life, if we expect to be sick, if our identity includes
illness, we are more likely to experience illness. If we, on the
other hand, expect our bodies to be well, and treat them with
respect, we are less likely to have sickness from opportunistic
organisms like viruses and bacteria. It's akin to honoring our
military; we believe they keep us safe, and behold, they do!
I
hope that you are standing at attention and saluting your internal
army of T-cells today, and that this finds you in perfect health. Man
that drawbridge, baby! Bar the door to colds and flu!
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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