Is Health A Condition Of Matter, Or Not?

THIS question requires careful consideration. The answer that springs readily to the tongue, or more appropriately, to thought, may not necessarily be the right one. Very often one may hear the phrase ‘a healthy body’. Since the human body is material, this may infer that health inheres within the body. But deeper reasoning would reveal that whatever resides or can be found within the body, in this case, health, must have quantifiable physical attributes such as size, colour, weight, texture and so on. Maybe even more importantly, there must be a way to pinpoint its physical location.

  Evidently, health does not fit into physical, chemical, biological or organic moulds. It cannot. And this realisation proves that health is really not a condition of matter. This statement may seem radical, even incredulous to the thought trained and educated to see matter as the end all and be all of man’s health, except the statement can be practically proven to be true. First of all, it must be said that dogmatically holding on to what is familiar and comfortable, is a foe of progress; and no harm can come from thinking outside the proverbial box of materiality, especially when it concerns health.

  If health is not a condition of matter, what is it a condition of? This question is actually not new. It has engaged the attention, research, study and consideration of spiritual thinkers, philosophers, psychologists, people of faith and medical personnel, among others. The answer that keeps surfacing and resurfacing with persistent recurrence is that health is actually a spiritual quality. This answer can be interpreted in any number of ways, depending on the parlance of choice.

  Health can be said to be a condition of mind, rather than brain, of spirit rather than matter, of soul, rather than the physical body. This is all well and good, but what is the implication of acknowledging, accepting or gaining this understanding, for the health and well being of man? Christian healer, spiritual author and Church founder, Mary Baker Eddy says, about health, in her book Science and Health with key to the Scriptures, that it is not a condition of matter but of God, as Spirit, or the divine Mind, and that this fact must be understood. She goes on to insist that the material senses cannot ‘bear reliable testimony on the subject of health.’

  Of practical significance is the fact, according to Eddy, that not only gaining, but exercising this spiritual understanding, is the basis of consistently sound health. It also actually results in healing, because God is the source and condition of all existence. Eddy proved this as a fact over and over in her healing practice that spanned almost 45 years. Many around the world, including Nigeria, continue to prove this in their spiritual journey today. The good news is that you can too.

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