Spirit In Health

MON., JAN. 7, 1985, 8:09 PM
FARM, STUDY

I, the Holy Spirit, haven’t focused on this aspect of spirit which is most important to you, professionally, for some time. I have told you that you need not concentrate on this solely, but I do reiterate that this is to be your major area of contribution to your field in this last phase. Therefore, I must keep you “up-to-date” and urge you, from time to time, to give this some new consideration. Let Me proceed this evening from part of your conversation with Valerie today.

I have My ideas of what a health educator should be… and then do. The dimensions of well-being are the fundamental criteria, for a good health educator must, first of all, be a healthy person. And what is healthy? One who functions well in a variety of life tasks, both those that are pleasant and self-selected and those that are pesky to onerous, imposed by others. Because the concept of health has been so fully related to the conditions of the physical body, the condition and functionality of this “temple of the spirit” must be considered and weighed. A health educator who does not care for and maintain her body in the best shape possible can never be first rate in this profession. The link with the title is this: the one who has spiritual motivations for maintaining and respecting the body will usually have more success than ones with only physical or intellectual or emotional motives.

The intellect is another vital part of the functioning of a health educator. There is more to know in the “field” of health than in many other areas of human endeavor. How can you function well when you can’t possibly know all that you must? Spirit is important again, for this vital force can guide you both to new, necessary knowledge, to retention of what is learned, and to utilization of what is known. To understand that a fundamental purpose of life is to learn and relearn is a tremendous help to intellectual functioning. Spirit and intellect somes conflict and compete, but they also can work together… in health.

Many health issues and health educating situations produce an atmosphere of some emotion. The effective health educator must manage her emotions in creditable ways, expressing and controlling… again with spirit guiding. The educator may not feel the emotion that a youth feels about some situation, but he can appreciate the feelings and respond in ways that do not ignore or deprecate them. Sharing emotions is one marvelous way to open means of communication. Spirit is not against emotional feelings. The health person feels and appreciates feeling in others.

Some health professionals work mostly with microbes or test tubes, or electronic equipment, or numbers, or… . Health educators work primarily with people, even though this may be indirect. So health for those in your profession involves a large dose of concern for and capacities to work with fellow humans. As a good professional works with people she becomes aware (and here again spirit helps tremendously) of what is happening and can then help those being educated to understand the dynamics of human interaction. As others respond to the educator’s efforts positively there is reinforcement and more desire to continue… even do better. Yet acclaim by others may not come, and spirit is helpful in carrying the educator through times of “drought” in social approval. The good educator must sometimes direct learning which is not appreciated. In such situations the educator needs be healthy!

Most health educating is about life in the physical earth, and so there must be a healthy concern for this earth environment… its values as well as its dangers.