God's plan of redemption is a threefold restoration made necessary by a threefold fall when sin entered the world. This is well ex pressed in the following:
"To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized,—this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life."— Education, pp. 15, 16.
It used to be thought that these three divisions were separate and distinct from each other, and could be ministered to and dealt with separately. Modern thought has discovered that these three are not separate and distinct, but are integral parts of each other, de pendent upon each other, and that one cannot be affected without a reaction on the part of the other.
This same truth was brought to light more than forty years ago by the pen of inspiration, and is another example of modern thought catching up with what God had already given to His church.
"The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize."— Ministry of Healing, p. 241.
The mind, or heart if you might choose to call it that, is the seat of the spiritual, as is brought to light in the following:
"Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, dis content, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death." —Ibid.
Reliable medical authorities claim that 90 per cent of sickness, other than surgery, is due to such causes. The foregoing list—grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust—falls within the realm of the spiritual, and thus within the field of labor of the minister. Therefore, we find that the health work, mental and physical, and the spiritual work are closely united.
Modern science having discovered this, we find a tendency for the laborers in these separate fields to unite their efforts by forming great medical centers, such as the center in Boston, where medical doctor, psychiatrist, social worker, and spiritual adviser all work together for the same patient. We see too the increasing number of large hospitals providing training courses for ministers, that they might have every opportunity to further their part of the three-phased work.
Our own sanitariums are places where this threefold work is united, and they provide the logical place for training. Here at the New- England Sanitarium and Hospital we are con ducting this clinical training program under the direction of the chaplain, and in cooperation with G. H. Minchin, the dean of theology at Atlantic Union College.
Finding "the Growing Edge"
In every individual, especially the sick, will be found some of the problems listed, and many others which might be added. Solving these problems is one of the objectives of our training program.
Round about this problem is to be found the individual's natural "growing edge." Every living thing has a growing edge, a place where it is natural for the next cell to form, as for instance in a blade of grass. It is at this growing edge, at the seat of the problem, that we shall find the natural place to lay a Christian brick of character. To begin above this growing edge often proves to be like a workman laying brick on the third story of a building before the second story has been put in. When he is finished he has nothing but a pile of brick, with no finished product. How often we lay the Christian bricks in Bible studies, only to find, instead of a finished product ready to enter baptism, a shapeless pile of brick so strewn over the growing edge of the individual that it is almost impossible to find it.
It is like a dentist who fills a tooth before finding the growing edge of the cavity. The tooth may look good for a time, but it may soon have to be taken out. Perhaps many of our apostasies are due to the fact that we have never found the growing edge, and never began to build Christian character at the proper place, and so the perfect-appearing Christian soon has to be extracted.
This thought also holds true for the pastor who finds himself counseling an individual. We cannot counsel until we find the center of the problem, the growing edge. To counsel above this problem will leave the counselee confused and without a feeling of much help. Do not be misled by thinking that the counselee will state his problem at the outset of his interview. The problem he first states will usually be the result of a problem far deeper down near the edge of his character growth.
This is illustrated by the man who came into the chaplain's office and laid his problem on the chaplain's desk and awaited the answer. He said, "I go to church quite regularly, but I can't get any good out of it. Can you tell me why it does me no good?" The chaplain might have answered by saying^ "Perhaps there was little message in the sermon," or some such answer.
Rather, he held up the problem and took a good look at it by saying, "Perhaps if we can work this through together, we might discover why." It proved that this was not the man's real need at all but only the result of a deeper problem. His real problem was a great sin, which he thought God would not forgive. This was his growing edge. A half hour of earnest conversation was necessary before this growing edge was discovered.
Conversation as a Useful Tool
Conversation then becomes a tool, and a most important one, in finding this growing edge. Conversation, the gift of expression, a wonderful blessing of God, is nevertheless one that we often use very carelessly.
Conversation consists mainly of two parts: speaking and listening. Of the two, listening is the most difficult. Listening to conversations will again prove this. However, of the two, listening is by far the most important. It is by listening that we find the growing edge of the individual. It sounds easy, but is more difficult than one might think.
To each individual his own problem is the biggest problem in the world, and it is upper most in his mind. If we will just listen, sooner or later he will come to that problem, for he has a pressure pushing him in that direction. Our difficulty is that of changing the subject, ever so little perhaps, but enough to keep the individual from getting down to his growing edge.
Listening is of two kinds, passive and active. Passive listening is listening without expression in word or gesture. Active listening is where one listens by word or gesture. To listen by speaking sounds paradoxical, to be sure, but it is speaking in such a way that it tells the one speaking to you that you have heard, you understand, and that you are ready for more. It does not change the subject; it merely re-ex presses the feeling. It is replying by feeling, not by content.
Let me illustrate: Mrs. A says, "I have a headache." Mrs. B says, "I'll get you an aspirin." That is not listening but replying by content and changing the subject. Mrs. A answers, "I don't like aspirin," and thus the subject is changed from headache to the good or bad qualities of aspirin. However, suppose Mrs. B answers, "Oh, you have a headache, and you don't feel well." This is a reply to feeling. It is listening. It has not changed the subject but instead conveys the meaning, "I have heard you; I understand; go ahead."
To this reply Mrs. A must respond with more about the headache. Perhaps she will say, "You are right. I've been worrying about my husband, and I am all upset." Replying to feeling and not content will usually result in progress similar to this, and will cause the counselee to go deeper and deeper until eventually the bottom of his problem is reached. That is the growing edge. Writing the conversation out will enable the student to analyze his active listening ability and correct it. Practice in creases ability, and the results will amply compensate all the time and effort used to increase one's helpfulness.
