Issue 10 Preaching through AdversityBlog | Preaching about mental health
Preaching about mental health
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 18.03.17
The first time I heard about the concept of shalom was through a song we sang at school. Do you know it? Shalom, my friends, Shalom, my friends, Shalom, shalom. Till we meet again, Till we meet again, Shalom, shalom
I had a vague idea that it was something to do with peace, but I didn’t really think beyond the fact that I liked the sound of the word (so much so that I named one of my toys Shalom – but I digress).
I didn’t get a real sense of the fullness of shalom until I was in my early twenties and started to look at a theology of mental health. I ran into early difficulties when I discovered that the phrase mental health isn’t actually in the Bible, and I couldn’t work out what its equivalent would be until I came across the concept of shalom again through the work of theologian John Wilkinson, who writes:
‘The root meaning of the word shalom is wholeness, completeness and wellbeing… It does however have several secondary meanings, encompassing health, security, friendship, prosperity, justice, righteousness and salvation, all of which are necessary if wholeness, completeness and wellbeing are to come about.’1 It’s a beautiful vision of what God imagined for our lives – wholeness. No broken relationships, no ailing bodies, no fractured minds. We see a picture of complete shalom and wholeness in the garden of Eden, right at the beginning of creation. Genesis 2 recounts everything Adam and Eve had in the garden that enabled their shalom; from their companionship with one another, to their beautiful surroundings and meaningful work, the safety of the garden and the provision of God through all he had made.
