Community Wholeness

Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP 817)

For a community to be well, good, and in working order, the members of the community need to be healthy as well.  We tend to talk a lot in the church about wholeness, however we don't always define what we mean by it. Wholeness is a step beyond health or physical well being. Wholeness  means being in harmonious unity, being unbroken and undamaged, means being well in many aspects of one's life. Though we are all at least a little bit broken and damaged, the idea of having wholeness or wellness in many areas of our lives is not as unimaginable as it might seem.

As defined by the National Wellness Institute, wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and making choice toward, a more successful existence. There are many different aspects of wellness in life: environmental, physical, occupational, financial, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual. Unfortunately these days not many communities are concerned enough about the health and wellness of their members.  However this does not mean that we are not called to work healing and reconciliation in our lives. For ourselves and for others. We are.  Taking care of others requires taking care of ourselves. We cannot help other in a community when we are too tied up in our own problems to be able to see the needs of others. Jesus calls us to be agents of change for wholeness, wellness, healing, health, hope, and reconciliation within the communities we live in. God created us as marvelous multifaceted human beings.