The WellBeing Slot!

As many people reading this will be aware, I worked for the Churches for a number of years - from 1993, in fact - and am now a trustee of IBEX, which used to be SHIM when I first joined it. It’s now our Church’s partner in this current enterprise.

Having said that, I have not by any means been the instigator of all this.

I am, though, enormously happy to see it happening.

It reminds me that, many years ago as a student and before I met Alice (my wife), I would dismiss the Church as a place that people went to so as to escape from the real world, which struck me as a waste of time. Meeting Alice, her Chairman of the District father, her family and numerous significant Methodist figures (such as Colin Morris, Kenneth Greet and several Presidents of the Conference) I realised how wrong I was.

I came to see Church very much as a way of dealing with the world, that the teachings of Jesus across a broad range of issues should inform everything that we do. So when I started working for SHIM - South Hampshire Industrial Mission - it was as “Faith and Work Development Officer”, which was about convincing people, particularly new people to Church, that those Sunday Morning values should go out with them to the rest of the week and not be left behind.

Carry those Sunday morning values with you all the week

I can’t help but think that our Wellbeing initiative is fully in line with that, and re-reading the introduction to one of the books which is informing all this, the word 'Shalom' was discussed. My extensive research (in other words, I googled it!) led me to the following description of the biblical concept of Shalom from an American theologian called Cornelius Plantigna:

“The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Saviour opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.”

“The way things ought to be!” Most people reading this will be aware of things about beating swords into ploughshares, of the land of milk and honey, of lions lying down with lambs - sounding fanciful but being “as it should be!”

One final thought.

Many years ago I received a phone call at home after a Sunday Morning service at Church which had been led by the Youth Club after one of their weekends. Both my daughters had been involved in if, and it was about Texaco and Burma. Those daughters are now 43 and 40, so that shows you how long ago it was. The caller was  complaining that she didn’t go to Church to be bombarded with all this political stuff, but to have a nice chat with her friends and a cup of coffee. I explained that I had nothing to do with the content or organisation of the service.

I kept my cool, but surely, one of the points of Church is to be challenged, to argue with the nature or content of the challenge, perhaps, but to dismiss it completely was perverse.

More importantly, this Wellbeing concept is for everyone.

Even if you’re not convinced and prefer to sit on the sidelines, you matter and this Wellbeing "stuff" cares about you. 

Because we all matter!

Shalom is the way things ought to be for all of us!

We should all take it seriously!

Your views and experiences could make all the difference… for you or for someone else!