Stop Looking Down: Why Your Posture Problem Is Actually a Soul Problem
By Jessica Brodie
Have you ever discovered something going on with you physically that has a spiritual connection, too?
Recently, tension headaches prompted me to see a chiropractor. She took some X-rays, and it looks like I have a curve in my neck that slopes a bit downward instead of upward and back as it should. As a writer who spends a lot of my day hunched over a computer, I’m not terribly surprised about this. It makes sense that if I’m looking down at a screen all day and constantly hunching over a laptop that my neck would show some wear and tear after decades in this industry.
The solution is a combination of both chiropractic care and training my body ergonomically—positioning myself at the laptop in a way that keeps my head and neck straighter, so I don’t make the problem worse.
Of course, there’s a spiritual metaphor in this, too—for indeed, always looking inward and down, instead of upward and out, isn’t good for the soul, either.
God created us human beings to be in perfect communion with him—to look to him for answers, for comfort, for guidance. But what do we do instead? We turn in toward ourselves, focusing our perspective on our own wisdom and insight and on the concerns of our own little worlds instead of on the Lord.
Even if our concerns in this world seem like they’re godly—our family, our ministry, our relationships—think about it. If we’re really truthful with ourselves, we pay a lot more attention to the self and to this world than to the spiritual world.
Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we’re looking down. We’re hunching over, instead of straightening to look up and out.
That’s not good for us or the world around us—and it’s certainly not what the Lord intended.
Self-care is important, and of course we’re going to feel naturally inclined to care for the people in our inner circle—the children, spouse, or other loved ones around us daily.
But we’re meant to do more.
Consider the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, how he put his own world and his own people on hold to see the stranger in need and rescue him. He spent his own time and resources to get the wounded stranger proper care, and then he came back later to check on him. He didn’t rush home to his own wife and kids. He sacrificed for someone he didn’t even know.
And Jesus said after telling this story, “Go and do likewise.”
Consider also the disciples. After his resurrection, just before he ascended to heaven after spending forty days with his followers, Jesus didn’t say, “Now go home and make sure your family and friends are cared for, and teach them the gospel.”
He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV).
Some of us spend far more time focusing on the needs of ourselves and our inner circle instead of caring for the stranger. And while it’s not right to neglect the self or our family and friends, neither is it right to neglect the needs of the wider world.
This season, as I’m training my head and neck to pull upward and out, I’m also considering: What are some new ways I can do the same in my soul? How can I train myself to see the needs of others—people I don’t even know? What are some ways I can heed the nudge of the Holy Spirit, to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, to the world around me?
I hope you’ll join me.
All this Good News isn’t meant to be for us alone.
Comment below on what you are doing or have done to be more focused on the Lord and on shining his light in the world around you. I’d love to learn more.
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