Holism; In the individual and in community

I think that holism is crying out to be adapted and adopted in Christianity. First, it should be adopted and adapted by individuals and, secondly, it should be adapted and adopted by believing communities. I acknowledge that there are groups across the country that are developing in this way. However, there should be many, many more and I think that this should be an important focus.

I went to the dictionary to find the definition of holism before I wrote this post because I wanted to be sure that I had a handle on the meaning and not just a connotative meaning that missed the mark. I don’t know about you but I have to look up terms that I have taken for granted from time to time and occasionally I am surprised to find that the connotative wide spread meaning that I have always accepted is not the real definition…but I digress, this should be the topic of another post.

Here is the dictionary definition: Holism; the theory that whole entities, as fundamental components of reality, have an existence other than as the mere sum of their parts. What I get from this definition is that when all of the parts are combined, acknowledged and working together the result is an entity that is more than the parts combined…it is an organism.

Therefore, in an individual the combination of the social self, the psychological self, the spiritual self, the economic self, the recreational self, the political self, the scientific self, the ethical self, the ritual or religious self and, the physical self should be integrated in a congruent manner….yet is it? Many people separate their spiritual, ritual and religious self from all of the other selves. Spirituality is isolated and not allowed to cross over into the economic self for example. We are different at church, different at home and, different at work. I have come to believe that the more we can totally integrate these separate selves into a harmonious whole, the better and, healthier we are.

Likewise, if the community is able to facilitate this harmony and not discourage it the better it is for the individual organism. We would do well to begin to dialog in each of these communities, i.e., our homes, work places and churches that can bring about the ability to interface each of our selves.

The two communities that inhibit this the most is the workplace and the church. We tend to try to hide our true selves in both of these settings to avoid being judged and criticized. Yet, I believe that to the degree that these communities can foster an open tolerant environment the easier it would be for the individual to incorporate his or her multiple selves into a single healthier whole.

Employers and pastors should be made aware of this so that the environment can be altered.