Entangled: We were never meant to heal alone

Part of Walking the GoHealth Way blog series

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We all want to flourish.

And if we are currently living with illness, disability or loss, we know this desire for wellbeing and health is not a theory or a neat theological idea. It is deeply human.

Thanks to science, psychology and technology we have an ever increasing range of tools to help us become more healthy or to recover more swiftly. And thanks be to God for them all.

But there is a particular irony to be glimpsed behind the vast wellbeing industry which is an economical powerhouse built on choice and empowerment. Just at the very moment when there never has been so much time, money and attention invested in wellbeing, loneliness, anxiety, burnout, and dissatisfaction remain stubbornly widespread. In other words, despite unprecedented access to healthcare, wellness products, information, and opportunities for self-improvement, many people do not appear to be flourishing.

One of the deepest lessons of the pandemic was what happens when our ability to connect with other human beings is taken away. The suffering and the damage caused were significant. And my heart still aches when I think back to the pain and lonliness that was hidden behind countless doors and face masks.

It was never meant to be this way.

The biopsychosocial-spiritual model of health is well accepted in modern healthcare science, even if it doesn’t always quite show up in the clinic. Modern health science increasingly recognises that our physical health is related to our emotional health. The environments we grow up in matter. Having one stable adult can make a profound difference to a child who has experienced adversity. When we go into nature, it is not simply a gimmick: our bodies respond, and can even heal. Healthy relationships help our nervous systems to settle and create conditions where healing is possible.

We are deeply entangled with our environment, and with one another.

But none of this is new. Indeed, the science is catching up with something deeply embedded in Christian theology.

Human life and salvation are entangled with God, the environment and with one another. The doctrine of creation sets this out. The Incarnation ratifies it. Paul’s writing about the Body of Christ paints the picture of it. And the resurrection of Christ from the dead brings the whole picture into harmony. We were never meant to be alone, or live alone, or heal alone.

Christian healing is not simply an intervention; it is participation. It is about living into this reality and shaping communities where people are welcomed because we are interconnected and matter. We all know how good it feels to be given dignity, to be listened to. And that is because these things matter psychologically, spiritually and even physically. Churches, of all the places people could go, should be THE place where this participatory understanding of health and flourishing is experienced.

We are invited to participate in God’s work of making things whole – in our own lives, in our relationships, in our communities and in creation. Healing becomes not just something we receive, but something we embody and extend to others. Perhaps healing is not something that happens to us, but something we enter into.

When one person finds belonging, others are affected. When a community learns to welcome, listen and make space for people to flourish, it becomes a healing presence. And when we learn to live this way ourselves, we become part of that healing too.

And this means something beyond science papers and solid doctrine. Put into practice this can deepen our human experience and lead to flourishing. Not fixing. But a way of being in the world that deepens our flourishing, and by definition extends to others. Living this way is to be a healing presence – to yourself, and to others.

This is the GoHealth way. It is what it means to live into entangled reality, by choosing how to be and affirming that this is a response to Jesus’ call on our lives.

That is why GoHealth is not just a place to get great resources. It is a place to belong.

We wonder together what would change if we understood belonging itself as part of the healing ministry of the church? Because it seems that this is amongst the entangled roots of what science and the faith are saying: find yourself where you have always been: You belong and you matter to God.

Our Healthy Healing Hub network brings together churches that want to explore this way of ministry, empowering all members to be a healing presence in the world. Our courses and reflective journeys all support this view. This includes our Everyday Healing course, and courses on burn out, trauma and healing prayer ministry. At the heart of the GoHealth Way is this – a gathered community. Not of people who have it all worked out, but of people walking this way together, honestly and hopefully.

In the GoHealth Community, we literally gather monthly, and with weekly inspiration to help us walk the GoHealth Way. Together, this is how we at GoHealth express in the world our wider ambition to see and be flourishing individuals and communities. And we grow person by person, as people choose to join us.

The blogs that follow explore what this might mean in practice: how we create the conditions for flourishing, how our presence can become an act of healing, and how we learn to breathe, rest and receive as well as give to others.

Your next step

• Join The GoHealth Community membership
• Listen to a podcast on prayer and healing
• Explore The Everyday Healing Course

Go to the next blog in The GoHealth Way series

Go deeper into The GoHealth Way with our reflective online course

The GoHealth Way is our shared way of living, leading and working for healing, hope and belonging. It grows from a simple conviction: we are not meant to heal alone. We become more attentive to ourselves, to one another, to our communities and to the world around us – and, in doing so, we can join in with what God is already doing.

This course introduces the vision, values, theology and practices that shape the GoHealth Way. It explores our story and history, the change we long to see in the world, and what it means to nurture flourishing and reduce suffering. It also recognises that this way of living can be costly, so we explore the importance of rest, renewal, community and the things that bring us alive.

This isn’t simply a course to complete. It is an invitation to a way of life we are learning together.

Along the way, you’ll be invited to reflect on your own life, the difference you want to make in the world, and whether you might want to join us in building a movement of healing, hope and belonging.

What you’ll explore

• The story and vision of GoHealth
• Our theology of Christian health and healing
• Belonging and why it matters for healing
• The values and principles that shape our work
• What it means to be a healing presence
• Our approach to health, wellbeing and flourishing
• Our history and the impact we are seeking to make
• How you can join in