Beloved,
We are incredibly complex creatures. I’ve been arguing in recent weeks that, as humans, we exist as “psychosomatic unities,” meaning there is an intimate and inseparable connection and communication between our bodies and souls. But up to this point, we have only looked at that communication from one direction—namely, from the body to the soul. We’ve seen how a dysfunctional body may have either negative or positive spiritual effects. But the bridge connecting our souls and bodies is not a one-way street. The body doesn’t just affect the soul; the soul also affects the body.
To return to my own recent experience, my struggle with depression (a soulish reality) was caused largely by an overactive thyroid and an underactive liver (bodily realities). My body was certainly affecting my soul. But do you know what one of the primary culprits of both hyperthyroidism and elevated liver enzymes is? A failure to handle stress well. Part of my journey toward restored physical health in recent months has been learning to relate to the stresses of life and ministry in a healthy and God-honoring way, and it has proven to be an intensely spiritual work. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the cultivation of a more resilient soul has coincided with the normalizing of both my thyroid and liver. Our souls communicate to our bodies.
Take gratitude as an example. The stressors in life cause our minds and hearts to fixate on perceived problems in the present or unknowns in the future, and when we do this, we miss all the little evidences of God’s goodness that surround us every moment. I’ve been seeking to combat this in my own soul by more consistently and consciously practicing gratitude. It is an exercise of the soul to see the goodness of God and respond to it with thankful praise. But research shows that practicing gratitude slows the release of cortisol, the stress hormone. It decreases inflammation in the body, strengthens the immune system, and lowers blood pressure. It also serves to calm the amygdala, the part of the brain involved in our fear response. Positively, it causes the release of beneficial hormones like dopamine (serving our joy), serotonin (serving our sleep), and oxytocin (serving our relationships). These are biological realities resulting from the spiritual discipline of gratitude.
Even today I had a choice to make—would I focus on the glaring obstacles in my way and grumble, or would I focus on the goodness of God all around me and rejoice? That spiritual choice has significant bodily effects. By practicing throughout-the-day prayer and meditation on God’s Word, I’m learning to keep my soul focused on the Lord and to see what might appear to be obstacles as opportunities for God to demonstrate His grace and grow me. In short, I’m learning how to deal with stress spiritually, and it has more implications for my body than I even understand.
Here is the really cool thing: those bodily effects then serve to further promote the soulish practice of gratitude. Think about it. The bodily inhibition of cortisol and the release of dopamine make it all the easier to rejoice in the Lord. The calming of the amygdala and the promotion of serotonin help keep me from anxious tossing and turning at night and from the sleep deprivation that makes me all the more prone to view life as a glass half empty. The soul effects the body, and then the body effects the soul.
As I write this, it is leading me to worship—what an awesome Creator we have! Truly, He has designed us in a fearful and wonderful way (Ps. 139:14). We must stop thinking about ourselves in ways that divide and separate our bodies from our souls. Both Scripture and science, properly understood, demand it.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nick