Don’t be afraid of self-care.
Self-care is Christian and scientific. I have awareness of the culture that frowns on taking bad behavior out of the church and into the laboratory.
A few days ago we talked about self-care not being selfish. That circuitously brought up the question about how “the church” feels about this blog.
Confusing “the church” with Christianity can be problematic. I have confused them in the past.
When my brother started talking evolution, I felt cold and clammy suddenly. After my mini-panic attack, he told me about reading the entire works of Darwin and I had another mini-panic attack. “There’s no way evolution didn’t happen. There’s just too much evidence supporting it.” I was confused.
It took me a long time to realize that I didn’t have to be worried about differences between me, science and God. Funny that my comfort level grew with this as I realized how little I knew. In fact, my joy expanded, when I realized I would spend all eternity growing my knowledge. That is a lot of everything that just won’t fit into any box I can think of.
iwantthatpainting.com/Why-does-it-always-rain-on-me.html
Now when something crashes through a pet-paradigm, I remember that it’s ok. (Down fear! Get down anxiety! Heal dogs!) I may see a different reality. Parts of me may become changed by that knowledge, trauma, death of a dear one. Becoming changed and different is ok. Because God is the same. God already knows whatever about evolution, or that the world is round. He knows that we try to turn medical symptoms into something spiritual, like depressed mood. He knows it and He’s still here. He is the prototype of presence. Now that people can look into the brain and say where feelings and behaviors come from, we can get past that and on to the next revelation. So what if it is medicalized. Science and spirituality are not exclusive of each other.
So is self-care Christian or scientific? Things aren’t that binary. Self-care is both.
Self-Care Tip #84 – Don’t be afraid of self-care. Be a friend to yourself.
Hi Sana…
You asked me to comment but too big a subject for just a comment me thinks. I’ll try though 🙂
I think it’s easy to get into debates between science and religion when we confuse what we make (what changes) with what is created (does not change). Everything in the physical world is is subject to decay (even the mountains). Anything that changes cannot be real. If it is here in one moment and not the next how can we call it real in the first place?
What God (within – our real Self) gives us/creates can only be like itself — Eternal/Loving/Unchanging. Everything in the physical world we make ourselves by projection (although it appears very real to us it is really an illusion) so we see it as existing outside of us instead of within our Mind.
Our bodies are temporary, our Self is eternal.. as is Life itself. When we confuse our Self with our bodies and belief that our life stops when the body fails we suffer… and the only logical conclusion from this confusion is there must be some external power that is causing all this (a cruel God) instead of seeing that we make this mess ourselves.
Whatever we do in this world is neither good or bad (judgement and ‘sin’ are man made phenomena… ‘do not partake of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil’) because we cannot do harm to anything that is real, because what is real is invulnerable (our Self — the truth of who we Are).
So what we do does not matter. ‘Why’ and ‘how’ we do it does.
When you choose Self care then if that is coming from a loving place in you instead of from a fearful/needy place then know that is coming from the real You (from God) — that is the ‘why’ — we can all choose to come from this place.
The ‘how’ is to recognise that we don’t really know how to be truly loving (to create from our God Self) but there is this place in us that does. So we can then choose to let this be done through us instead by us — to get out of our own way and let our God Self be in charge — this is the ‘how’.
I hope this helps Sana. A Course in Miracles speaks the truth of this for more eloquently than I can.
Blessings to You. 🙂
Hello Nick! what fun to get your lovely response. thank u for your thoughts. I like especially what you said about our “real selves” and then about intent and context. I think we’re in sync w that but let me know if i’m hearing u right… 🙂
Soul and Body http://wp.me/p10lj3-5o
Intent and Context Matter http://wp.me/p10lj3-ly
…i’m almost shameless how i’m prodding u on to read more! (almost shameless except that i am a little shy about it!) thanks again. Keep on!
P.S. ‘Shameless’ is good. I like that. Perhaps we could all do with a little more shamelessness 😉
don’t tempt all us readers out here! it might turn into shameless chaos quick!