Two news articles appeared side by side this week in a newspaper I read regularly; both articles addressed health and well-being issues.  The first article was about a growing trend among vacation travelers who go to destinations offering expensive (and unusual) health-spa treatments such as ozone therapy and intravenous vitamin infusions.  The second article was about the health benefits of the declining trend of church attendance and religious practice.  Both articles encouraged readers to give conscious thought to maintaining their mental and physical health, and both articles were potentially misleading. 

In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter defended himself to the leadership of the Jerusalem Temple who had put him and John on trial for preaching about the resurrection of Jesus. Peter said, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:12) 

The words translated in this passage of Acts as “salvation” and “saved” can also be translated as “healing” and “healed.” This usage represents a common Scriptural description of God’s saving actions as a form of healing. Immediately before today’s reading, Peter and John prayed for a man born lame and the man was made whole, that is, healed of his infirmity. The Scriptures describe salvation as being made whole, or healed, with regard to one’s relationships with God and people. 

The similarity between healing and salvation isn’t really so surprising. In English, we use the word “salve” to denote a healing balm or ointment and the word “salutary” to describe something that promotes health and well-being. These words are derived from the same root as the word “salvation.” To be saved by God’s Grace means to be healed of one’s spiritual infirmities, principal among these is the lack of fidelity in one’s life. 

The saving action of God’s Grace throws into relief the potentially misleading nature of the news articles I mentioned above. Medical treatments necessary for one’s health and even spa treatments that augment one’s health are, by their nature, good things to do. Church attendance and religious practice are good things to do, as well. There is also a certain goodness inherent in the news articles’ promotion of healthy practices. Promoting these healthy practices as having value only on an individual and private level, however, is where the news articles veered into the territory of being potentially misleading. 

There is an essentially public and social dimension to one’s personal health. The news article alluded to the social dimension of church attendance as enhancing personal health but didn’t give adequate attention to the source of this health enhancement. Church attendance doesn’t merely ‘have’ a social dimension, it is fundamentally a social act. Further, it is the social act of associating oneself with a church congregation that is the source of salubrious effects of religious practice. Human nature is as fundamentally social as it is individual, and individual persons are mentally and spiritually healthy to the extent that they are consciously integrated into a human community. 

Health, whether physical or spiritual, is not a commodity or a private issue; one’s health constitutes one’s ability to interact with others. The potential for misunderstanding those two news articles lies in our culture’s tendency to view everything and everyone as commodities that exist to be obtained and consumed; this is a decidedly unhealthy attitude. 

On the other hand, spiritual health and well-being are not magic or fantasy; these are observable facts about one’s life. Both of the news articles took very pragmatic, sensible approaches to matters of health and well-being; this is an attitude I commend. Too often, religious faith and practice are viewed as somewhat other-worldly, fantasy-based, or the products of magical thinking. Such caricatures are incorrect and probably contribute to the decreasing participation in organized religion. 

Perhaps, the side-by-side placement of the two news articles I mentioned was intentional. Perhaps, the editorial staff intended to communicate a message about the interrelatedness of individuality and communality in human nature. Perhaps, there is a message here for us who believe that “there is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:12) 

There is an observable link between one’s physical health and one’s spiritual health. The ritual for the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick says this explicitly. The ritual prays for healing, not necessarily a cure of a physical malady but healing, that is, wholeness, for the person. This is God’s plan of salvation for all people: the wholeness that reconciles one’s brokenness and, thereby, reconciles one with God and others. 

Peter’s speech before the Temple leadership in the Acts of the Apostles was a statement about the responsibility each of us has for our spiritual health; each of us is obliged to give conscious thought to what promotes healthy relationships with people and God, as this is the means by which we are saved and made whole. (Acts 4:12)