At what level of human existence does healing begin? "There is no sharp line of line of demarcation between the religious, spiritual, emotional, and physical—between the body and the psyche." (Morton Kelsey, Healing and Christianity, 232)

1. Running head: WHAT IS HEALING 1
What is Healing?
At What Level of Human Existence Does Healing Begin
David Grinstead
Atlantic University
February 1999
Author Note
David Grinstead is now at the Health Center of Hillsborough (http://www.youhealit.com)
and Alamance Community College.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David Grinstead,
Department of Continuing Education, Alamance Community College, P.O. Box 8000, Graham,
NC 27253-8000. Contact: dcgrinstead879@access.alamancecc.edu.

2. WHAT IS HEALING 2
What is Healing?
At What Level of Human Existence Does Healing Begin?
There is no sharp line of line of demarcation between the religious, spiritual, emotional,
and physical—between the body and the psyche. If it can be shown that religious
life has a vital effect upon the total emotional life of human beings, upon which
Christians are apt to call the soul, then it may be assumed it can have a like effect
upon the body of the believer. (Morton Kelsey, Healing and Christianity, 232)
In May of 1997, when I spoke on behalf of the American Academy of Family Medicine
in Lourdes, France, concerning prayer and the practice of medicine, I was adamant that any and
all healing which does not encompass the soul is at best transitory healing.
This story of Jesus illuminates and drives home this simple truth:
After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was
back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or
out. He was teaching the Word. They brought in a paraplegic to him, carried by
four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed
part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their
bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.”
Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves.
“He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.”
Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you
so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins.’ or
say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking?’ Well, just so it’s clear that I

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am the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both...” (he now looked at the
paraplegic), “Get up. Pick up you stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—
got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him.
They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve
never seen anything like this!” (Paterson, 91)
Jesus could have stopped short and given to the paraplegic restoration of the body which
is what he and most of us are seeking when ill. Yet, in some way this man’s physical illness was
linked to his inner state of being. His paralysis was a symptom of an injured psyche/soul, a soul
which needed restoration to a state of wholeness. Jesus, with his understanding of depth
psychology, went straight to the source of this man’s illness and removed the inner blockages
(psychological, emotional, childhood traumas, environmental, etc.) accompanying/underlying his
paralysis.
The need to restore the soul for breakthrough and thorough healing is borne out in my
own life experiences. During my early twenties, I experienced heart palpitations, intestinal
problems, a nervous stomach, panic attacks, insomnia, and depression and was labeled by the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) as neurotic and borderline schizophrenic.
These symptoms first appeared during my senior year of high school and steadily worsened over
a period of four years.
During this same time, my external life turned into a real mess. I dumped my fiancée of
two years; dated a woman I barely knew for three months, married her, and we separated 20
months later; changed my college major from religion to psychology; begin the slide towards

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agnosticism; and ultimately resigned the church where I served as an associate pastor and
resigned the ministry. The end result was a protracted series of meaningless jobs, borderline
poverty, reckless living, and a total disconnect from any Higher Spiritual Reality.
It was an unexpected transpersonal experience with the risen Jesus and the subsequent
application of a tailored twelve-step program and other spiritual disciplines that restored my soul,
calmed my mind, and restored my physical health. I knew firsthand what the Psalmist meant
when he said, “The Lord...restores my soul.” (Psalms 23: 1.3)
It is my opinion that generally physical, emotional, and mental states (but not necessarily
always) are expressed or experienced as reflections of the underlying soul’s condition. This begs
the question: What is the soul?
No one can give a definition of the soul. But we know what it feels like. The soul is the
sense of something higher than the ourselves, something that stirs in us thoughts,
hopes, and aspirations which go out to the world of goodness, truth and beauty.
The soul is a burning desire to breathe in this world of light and never to lose it—
to remain children of light.” – Albert Schweitzer (Cousins, 63)
SOUL in the Old Testament designates men or animals in their total being. Soul is the
life principle. Man is “body-soul”, for the Hebrews... In the New Testament the
idea of soul (Greek psyche) as life principle continues but the term may mean
“person”... it continues after death. (Layman’s Bible Encyclopedia, 768)
The soul contains the truest of individual essence from which emerges our affective,
creative, and emotional life... the true inner individuality of each and every human being that is

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the point of contact with and the reflection of Divine Spirit. The soul is of the utmost personal
responsibility. It represents and becomes what the individual “Will” does with its unique gift of
life.
...there are many who feel that the soul is not at all subject to the necessities of growing
pains and a long struggle to maturity. For them the soul is something
unchangeable, equally possessed by all human beings. It is the inevitable
accomplishment of the human body, having been given by God at birth or before,
and guaranteeing life after death. That notion thinks of soul as static,
unchangeable, the possession once and for all of man. (Miller, 13)
I strongly disagree. It is my position that the soul is not static, but dynamic. The New
Testament gives clear descriptions of:
...illnesses of the soul and regards these illnesses as of more concern than illnesses of the
body. This is because the soul carries our fundamental Self, that mysterious,
enduring part of us that is able to survive death and achieve union with God.
(Sanford, Healing Body and Soul, 120)
The soul is full of possibilities—it is not unchangeable. Physical realities and
possibilities are but a reflection of Spiritual realities and possibilities. Just as the brain and body
may be trained, the soul may also be trained. Just as the body is born, the soul is born; just as the
mind and the body must grown, mature, fail and succeed, so must the soul achieve insight and
skill. The body and mind can lapse into darkness, sickness, and confusion; and so too the soul.
Repetitive and countless learning opportunities are needed for mental and physical development
and also for soul development and soul maturity. (Miller, 13-14)

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Often I have pondered my own healing(s) and restoration(s) wondering why I was
singled out for an unexpected restoration of soul, mind, and body. One night I put the question
to my dream journal and asked, “What is my life destiny, my ultimate life destiny?
My dream:
I and another father are at the back of my parked car with the trunk open.
Scattered all around the car on the ground are small toy cars. We talk as we pick
them up and place the toy cars inside the trunk of my car. I state that Joshua (my
10 year old son) left them lying on the ground scattered all around the world
wherever we have traveled.
During the conversation, I state that I try to balance between the extremes
of the world—neither too much nor too little. I give an example of clipping
coupons stating that sometimes I clip coupons to save money and sometimes I do
not clip coupons. That it is not always the same. Also I need to be alone a lot of
the time or I feel that I will fall apart.
We speak of the news on CNN and agree that there is no new news, only
the continuing cycle of old news of human brokenness. And that my job is to
uncover the potential that lies below the surface for those willing to do the work.
I am to show the possibilities of what humans can be—I show what they might
be—not the same old same ways. They must be willing to do the digging.
My personal experiences of soul restoration, healing, and wholeness are grounded in
spiritual practice and disciplines such as: dream work, scripture reading, journaling, meditation,
contemplation, reflecting, centering prayer, and creative pursuits such as poetry, photography

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and martial arts. Each of these varied techniques shares the common goal of making a conscious
connection with the Ground of my being.
It seems that how things work is that “in our own woundedness, we can become a source
of life for others.” (Nouwen, 72) I have never thought of myself as a leader, but this may be
based upon the “great illusion of leadership… than man can be led out of the desert by someone
who has never been there.” (Nouwen, 72) Having been there and having come back qualifies me
to lead and speak with authority on the necessity of soulful healing and recovery.
I have an urgent need to speak on this subject and to speak often; however, I am
befuddled by a deep desire to do so within the context of institutionalized Christianity. Most
people see the Church as it is and ask, “Why?”; I see the Church as it can be and ask, “Why
not?” My opinion is that the Church often fails in its mission as envisioned by Jesus:
There once was a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited people. When
it was time for the feast… he said to his servant ‘Hurry out to the streets and
alleys of the town, and bring back the poor, the cripple, the blind, and the lame.’
(Luke 14:16, 17)
… the church has reneged on its own spiritual traditions and has succumbed to the
rational materialism of our day along with everyone else. For the church, as it has
become increasingly institutionalized, devalued and denied the reality of the
individual soul and its dreams in favor of collectivized creeds, rituals and
traditions. In putting the life of the institution above that of the soul, the church
sought to mold the individual to the life of the institution. This left the church

8. WHAT IS HEALING 8
devoid of its spiritual basis, and open to the same materialism and rationalism that
gripped the rest of the world. (Sanford, Dreams and Healing, 8)
My healing experiences are grounded in Christian and Western Spirituality. This is what
I know and from whence I know; therefore, it is the world view from which I am most qualified
to speak with authority.
My contemporaries, being greatly influenced by the same basic cultural and other
Western environmental forces, cannot easily divorce their soul’s recovery or growth from their
primary spiritual influences. Such is ingrained, yet: “There are very few spiritual directors or
classes in how to pray in most modern churches, Catholic or Protestant; many people today are
turning to the wisdom of the East.” (Kelsey, The Other Side of Silence, 12) This explains the
no-growth or declining membership dilemma of the traditional churches such as the United
Methodist in which I am active:
While traditional churches treat miracles gingerly, it is surely no coincidence that the
fastest-growing movement in Christendom places miracles squarely at the center
of worship. The growth rate of the “post-denominational” churches—the
Charismatics and Pentecostals—now surpass that of the Southern Baptists.
“People don’t come to listen,” explains Peter Wagner, a professor of church
growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, “They come to do.” The miracles take
many forms: besides healing, there are members who have visions, or speak in
tongues, or collapse on the ground when seized by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Time, April 10, 1995, 68)

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I have struggled to bond and connect with others from within the traditional Church but
the fruits of my efforts have produced slim to none pickings. “Except for Pentecostal seminaries,
less than half a dozen offer any courses in the religious dimensions of healing. In most
seminaries the subject is dismissed with scorn.” (Kelsey, Healing and Christianity, 3) Being
neither Charismatic nor Pentecostal, I chose to study at Atlantic University instead of a
mainstream divinity school.
My work at Atlantic University will soon be complete. Thereafter, I hope to begin a
progressive sharing of what I have learned and mastered in the areas of soul restoration,
recovery, and healing. This poem which I wrote captures the essence of my dream:
A space, a special place, out of reach of regular means…techniques long ago turned
sacred cows. Historical ways of doing things not meant to heal those outside the
main stream. How many? Many seek the way, only to be turned away dragging
and pushing broken bodies, minds and spirits along litter covered and barren
cultural by-ways. A space, a sacred place! The essence of One will make this
space a very special place for those of us who stand, lean, sit, and lay outside the
main stream; cultural oddities embracing the light finding healing for broken
bodies, minds and spirits. We will find our way to this space, a very special
place.

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References
Cousins, N (1984). The words of Albert Schweitzer. New York: Newmarket Press
Kelsey, M. T. (1995). Healing and Christianity: a classic study. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Kelsey, M. T. (1997). The other side of silence. New York: Paulist
Miller, S. H. (1951). The life of the soul. London: Word Books
Nouwen, H. J. M. (1990) The wounded healer. New York: Doubleday
Peterson, E. H. (1995) The message: the new testament psalms and proverbs in contemporary
language. Colorado Springs, Colorado: NewPress Publishing
Sanford, J. A. (1978) Dreams and healing. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist
Sanford, J. A. (1992) Healing body and soul: the meaning of illness in the New Testament and in
psychotherapy Louisville: Westminster
The Southwestern Company (1964). The layman’s bible encyclopedia. Nashville: Southwestern
(1962) The Oxford annotated bible: revised standard version. New York: Oxford University
Press
(1995, April 10). Time Magazine, 68.