Body, Mind, and Spirit - my own personal trinity

When I started this blog, the stated purpose was to post about maintaining balance in my life and my attempts to use all of my gifts.  I was, at that time, missing teaching, missing science and worried about forgetting the many things I had learned during my 25 years in the field (if you count back to my first job after college).  I left the field of science gradually, with stops and starts, because I was not willing to work full time - which would mean 60-70 hours per week as either an assistant professor or research associate.  Although I loved the work, I wanted to have time for other pursuits: raising children, keeping in shape, reading and church.

As I pondered my dilemma and my inability to find a satisfying part-time position, I decided to write.  Writing, I thought, would help to satisfy my mind, which is very demanding and hates the mundane.  My writing took the form of a novel, which is still in progress. This created a new dilemma. If I’m working on writing a book, what should I write about in my blog? If I write about the book or post excerpts: I would be posting first or second drafts that are still in development and no one would have to or want to buy the completed book.  

Fortunately, my brain has been working on this problem and has realized that I should go back to the original stated purpose of the blog, which continues to be a subject of thought, contemplation, and internal discussion for me.

Maintaining balance in my life translates into balancing three main aspects of my life.  You might disagree, but I think that everyone should strive for balance in these three areas: body, mind and spirit.  So, that is what I will be writing about, beginning with the last.

Today is Ash Wednesday, a day of repentance for Christians. It is the first day of the season of Lent, which lasts 40 days (not counting Sundays) and is marked as a time of preparation, a time of greater prayer and self-discipline, a time to draw closer to God in anticipation of the recollection of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.  Lent, although more somber, is similar to Advent, which precedes Christmas.

My spirit told me to return, in this blog, to the subject of balance in terms of body, mind and spirit. The idea popped into my head as I was driving.  The words flowed so easily and clearly, but now I struggle to find them.  That is because my mind is trying to do the work now and it has a tendency to push my spirit away. The idea came in response to thoughts about a news story I heard on the radio. I was contemplating the biological differences between men and women and how they affect our paths in life. However, the specifics of those ideas will be saved for a post about the body. I mention them here only to illustrate the working of the spirit.

The spirit, or soul, requires freedom from the things of man, human things. When we are solving problems or doing physical work, our minds and bodies take center stage. They crowd out the spirit and can leave us exhausted.  In the Christian church, there is a connection between water and the spirit, song and the spirit and I find that connection holds when I am going about my day-to-day activities. Great ideas and wonderful thoughts flow freely through my mind when I am washing dishes or taking a shower. My spirit soars when I hear or sing beautiful music. I feel the tingling I associate with the spirit when I am in the natural world: at the beach; in the woods; holding a baby; making love to my husband. My soul rejoices in these things and fills me.  Things made by humans, like cities, and jobs created by our human luxuries, like vacuuming and straightening the basement, crush my spirit and stifle my soul.

When my soul is nurtured by God’s creation, prayer and the wisdom of God’s word, it penetrates my mind and body and I become more aware of things my spirit tries to tell me.   Some call it intuition, others consider it paranormal, I hope and pray that it is a connection to a higher power that loves me, knows me (and you) completely and, because of that vast knowledge, sees a path through life that will bring me greater fulfillment of purpose than the other paths I might choose.  This higher power, God, wants to help me to find my path and slowly, surely keeps nudging me in that direction.  It doesn’t sound scientific and my mind doesn’t like it, but I feel it in my heart and soul. 

Things We Can't See

One of the things I have been trying to figure out, with my writing, is how to present my world view.  I want the characters in my book to demonstrate, by their actions, the things I have learned and want to teach.  It is difficult, because my world view is not completely gelled. I am very analytical by nature and tend to look for logic in all things, becoming frustrated when others refuse to behave in a logical manner.  I've learned, through my children, that in order to analyze the logic of someone's behavior, you must first understand what motivates them. You must understand, for example, that a child's desire to please their friends outweighs their desire to please their mother.  You must understand that they are willing to get into a fight with their mother and risk punishment (which seems very illogical) in order to avoid being embarrassed in front of their friends (by doing something like wearing boots when there is a lot of snow on the ground, because boots are not cool and sneakers - even when wet - are the thing to wear).  I am also frustrated when my own impulses seem illogical. 

I was raised as a Christian and trained as a scientist. Christianity, with its reliance on faith in things unseen, does not easily occupy the same space as my scientific mind and logical approach.  So, I look at motives to find a plausible explanation. The scientist says that religion is an organization created to control the primitive, superstitious populace of old.  As a scientist, it has no place in this modern world.  We don't need Zeus to explain away our fear of thunder and lightening. 

I would accept this explanation were it not for experiences of my own that remain mysterious and cannot be easily explained away.  Why is it that I often get a feeling that I should call someone close to me only to have the phone ring and find that same person is calling me?  I can't explain it.  Why is it that I have a feeling I should move a glass or plate, forget to move it and then find that it was knocked over and broken by me, the cat or someone else?  Why is it that my gut often knows that a situation is bad long before my head has figured it out?

The scientist says that my subconscious mind figures things out before my conscious mind knows about them. I'm not so sure. I know it's not logical, but I think there's more to it than that.  When one door closes, another one opens. I have seen it happen. I have felt myself nudged to do things that I don't understand until many weeks or months later, when the decision is revealed as something very good.  So, as I write, I try to listen. I try to allow myself to be guided.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.   1 Corinthians 13:12