The latest research says the five components of brain health are good sleep, exercise, blood sugar control, social connection and stress regulation. Amazing that the people who compiled our Bible seemed to intuit that long before the advent of the scientific method. They developed rituals and practices for health and wholeness two millennia before they knew all the biological reasons why they should!
People in the Galilee region at the time of Jesus knew him as the teacher who went around calling people to come to him for, of all things, rest. His disciples said he was such a deep sleeper he could snooze through a tsunami! Now we know that during REM sleep our brains clear out metabolic waste like beta amyloid, which has been implicated in Alzheimer’s. So, go ahead and schedule that sleep test the doctor keeps recommending and pray less to “get results” than to release to God your need for control so you can surrender to the sleep you need.
As our devices have turned us into couch potatoes, doctors say “sitting is the new smoking.” But early Christians knew we were designed to stay active. They counted sloth among the “deadly sins” and were constantly on the move to help those in need, to “fish for people,” and to “run the race set before them” in sharing the gospel. So, “don’t grow weary of doing good,” as Paul wrote the Galatians, and know this: science has proven that if we think of our activity as exercise, our bodies will actually register the benefits as exercise!
Our dysfunctional food culture has us wasting about 40% of what we buy and eating “foodstuffs” our organs don’t recognize as food, causing them to wear out before their time. Yet, even though they lived in food deserts, early Christians practiced fasting for its health, spiritual and social benefits. They also feasted, but did so as an act of worship, not binging in secret but sharing their resources in public to celebrate the providence and goodness of God.
Which brings us to loneliness, an ironic epidemic in our newly hyper-connected world. The latest research says if we want to avoid dementia, we should follow Paul’s counsel to the Hebrews: do not neglect meeting together. He wasn’t recommending Facebook, of course, but real human contact, eye contact, social cues, shared laughter and tears. We need connection like we need air.
“Living biblically” does not mean we should live without modern advances and suffer like people did BCE. It means recognizing that we suffer as much from behaviors we can change as we do from circumstances that are beyond our control. So, let’s lovingly help one another “throw off every encumbrance” that prevents us from thriving (Heb. 12), because thriving itself is our best witness to the loving providence of a good God.
Kyle Matthews, Minister of Pastoral Care