November 08 2009 (Catholic education Catholic schools)

Number two in a series.

Editor’s Note: Every two weeks, Tomorrow’s Trust will share an excerpt from Noel Cooper’s new book What Makes us Whole. Information on purchasing the book can be found in the banner ad to the right, or at the end of this extract. Posted with permission.

What Makes Us Whole

Your faith has made you well.   (Mark 5:34)

Life is a journey in search of wholeness.  But what does “wholeness” mean?  A number of synonyms may help us understand the meaning of the word more fully.

Modern popular psychology uses a word that derives from the same root word when it speaks of “wellness” or well-being.  When Jesus healed people, often he concluded with a phrase that is now usually translated as, “Your faith has made you well.”  Other translations use the word “whole” in that quotation, because “to be whole” means to be well, to be in touch with one’s true self, to be growing towards fulfillment.

“Peace of heart” is another phrase that has a similar meaning.  The Jewish greeting “Shalom” (“peace”), though often used as unreflectively as our “goodbye” (meaning “God be with you”), speaks of deep inner peacefulness.  Jesus refers to the deeper meaning of Shalom in John’s narrative of the Last Supper when he says, “My peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.” (John 20:27)  The peace that Jesus gives is what we mean by wholeness.

It is possible to be a peaceful person in the face of tragedy and oppressive circumstances.  On the other hand, some situations can destroy or seriously weaken a person’s peace of heart.  When a person becomes less peaceful, to that extent the person’s journey towards wholeness has been hindered.  Our quest for wholeness is essentially a quest for inner peace.

We mentioned in the introduction that wholeness and holiness are synonyms. To the extent that we are true to ourselves, we are faithful to God, and therefore “holy.”  The gospel according to John uses the term “fullness of life” to express the meaning of “wholeness” in terms that are distinctive to that gospel: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

The last word in this series of near-synonyms is “happiness.”   What does it take to make human beings happy?

Early in the 21^st century, discussions about happiness are plentiful.  Some discussions, like this one, are on a religious basis.  Others are based in psychology.  The work of Dr. Martin Seligman[i] is based on his insight that psychology has understandably devoted itself to the problems that people face, but it should also emphasize the sources of happiness in people’s lives.  Seligman’s work identifies a number of factors that contribute to human happiness, and encourages readers to recognize and appreciate them in their own lives.

Wholeness, wellness, well-being, peace of heart, holiness, happiness:  those are all terms that describe in slightly different ways the goal of life’s quest.

To the extent that we are believers, our quest for wholeness is built upon the foundation of faith:  faith is supposed to support and strengthen us as we search for personal fulfillment, for well-being, for peace of heart, for happiness.  Faith helps us understand what wholeness involves, and faith assures us that we do not have to achieve wholeness only by our own efforts: God’s saving energy strengthens us and leads us forward on our quest.  We will discuss God’s role in our journey in the second half of this book.

In this first section, we will consider some of the elements that contribute to wholeness, holiness, wellness, well-being, peace of heart and happiness in an individual human life.    No doubt there are dozens of possible factors.  In the following chapters, you are invited to consider only these five elements of wholeness:

• Knowing that you are loved is the indispensable cornerstone of personal growth.
• Everyone should be aware of, and periodically reconsider and re-affirm, a sense of purpose in life – a focus for all our activities, a sense of direction.
• We are forming ourselves by the decisions we make.  Living consistently according to a personal value system is an important element of growing towards wholeness.
• All of us desire to be free, to set the course of our own lives.  God supports human freedom.
• Emotional well-being is essential to human wholeness.

---

[i] Martin E. Seligman, Authentic Happiness (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2002).

Dr. Seligman’s web site is also interesting:   http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/

The author welcomes discussion of any issue raised in this chapter.

Please contribute your opinions to his online discussion forum:

http://whatmakesuswhole.ning.com/profile/NoelCooper“

What Makes Us Whole

Finding God in Contemporary Life

Noel Cooper

ISBN:978-0-8146-3289-5

Specifics: Paper, 168 pp., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4

USA – Price: $16.95 Liturgical Press

Canada – Price $21.95 Broughton’s

(Note the advertisement badge links to Broughton’s)