Is health political?
I have worried about what would happen when “health” becomes associated with a specific political party—especially when we haven’t considered how our health is affected by all politics and political parties.
From how our soil is understood and used to choosing when, how, where, what, and why we eat, we are making choices (whether we realize it or not) that are not only political but also spiritual, agricultural, ethical, environmental, moral, and cultural. Many have argued that what we do—and don’t do—in our daily, ordinary lives communicates far more about (D) all the above than what we say and how we vote.
When it comes specifically to “health,” we must remember that our health is interconnected, interrelated, and interdependent. Our individual and collective health reflects and is shaped by both a liberal and conservative understanding of who we are and how we are designed to live as receivers and givers of Life, Love, Truth, Hope, Joy, and Wisdom.
For our health to flourish, we must be disciplined in how we live and gracious in how we love, forgive, and share. Knowing when to conserve and when to liberate is the essence of honoring and strengthening—or dishonoring and weakening —our health with our thoughts, words, and deeds.
Oftentimes, I have said the most spiritual thing one can do is be a healthy, whole, holy human being. Today, I am adding to that and saying, “The most political thing you can do is be a healthy, whole, holy human being.” The efforts needed to be and become the people God calls us to be will require all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. And it is also a must if we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The truth is, we are living in a health crisis. It affects us all and touches every area of our lives. I pray that we can create the space, take a breath, listen attentively, ask new questions, look at ourselves and how we touch the people we know and places we live.
I do not believe for one second that the government, an institution, or a political party can save us from ourselves or address the root cause of our suffering and despair. They can help, but they are not God. It is up to each one of us to seek the Truth and examine our own hearts and lives.
I truly believe the healthiest people I know love the most. Love is the healing stream that flows to nourish our spirits, hearts, minds, bodies and relationships. Love flows through our connections to help and heal. The heart of health really is love.
No… We cannot “make America” healthy, but each one of us can participate in strengthening our health by honoring the gift of life we all share.
Remember what Wendell Berry said:
“Connection is health. And what our society does its best to disguise from us is how ordinary, how commonly attainable, health is. We lose our health - and create profitable diseases and dependences - by failing to see the direct connections between living and eating, eating and working, working and loving.”
For furthering reading: WENDELL BERRY: THE PLEASURES OF EATING
“There is, then, a politics of food that, like any politics, involves our freedom. We still (sometimes) remember that we cannot be free if our minds and voices are controlled by someone else. But we have neglected to understand that we cannot be free if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else. The condition of the passive consumer of food is not a democratic condition. One reason to eat responsibly is to live free.”
