Health as a Virtue

Thomas Aquinas and the Practice of Habits of Health

Melanie L. Dobson

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781620325612
  9781498226721
• eBook ISBN:
  9781630873455
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

How are we to care for our bodies and our health as part of faithful Christian living? Melanie Dobson excavates from Thomas Aquinas an answer for how contemporary Christians might live well in the midst of a very sick culture. Through a close reading of Aquinas's Treatise on Habit, Dobson reveals that the moral practice of habit does indeed include health. Thomas's keen understanding of the human person and of human longings supports the book's argument for a practice of health that directs us deep into the heart of God. Field research with clergy and missionaries offers concrete examples of the implementation of habits of health as part of the life of Christian virtue. The stories from the Clergy Health Initiative and Word Made Flesh missionary organization exhibit transformations that ushered Christian leaders into deeper love of God, neighbor, and themselves. In the end, the theology of habits of health means that our quotidian care of our bodies is not only faithful, but directs us into a life of flourishing.

part one

Thomas Aquinas and Habits of Health

1

Introduction: A Story of Habits Learned

My life, though I didn’t know it at the time, broke into “before” and “after.”

In April 2003 as the cacti in the Sonoran desert bloomed, I sat in Dr. Schwengel’s (D.O.) office in Mesa, AZ. I explained to him a searing pain in my cervical spine and my loss of control of my right leg; a couple of weeks before this visit I had been running on the desert trail near my home in the early morning and inexplicably sprained my ankle badly. Even after I stopped hobbling around on crutches my gait involved a significant limp on the right side, while my left side remained quite numb.

After explaining these symptoms Dr. Schwengel looked at the ghostly images of my recent MRI film and saw the eerie white spots floating in space at cervical spine vertebrae four and six. He lowered the film from his eyes, saying with a warm gentleness in his voice that I would need evaluation by other doctors including a neurologist, but he could work on my neck to alleviate some of the pain. When I asked what he thought of the film, he cautiously offered that the images could indicate many possible conditions, including multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis. I wasn’t really sure how to pronounce it, much less spell it; I didn’t really know what the disease represented, except that it was a devastating chronic disease. These symptoms that I had thought were temporary and just required some medical quick fix now represented a future lifetime of serious illness. Life could no longer be the same; I had left the population of the well and had entered the communion of the chronically ill. I needed to lie down.

As my whole life whirled around me like a tornado, the good doctor led me to his examining room and had me lie down on the table for a brief respite. In midst of arid fear and uncertainty, water sprang up and started flowing down my cheeks, cutting rivulets across skin that suddenly felt withered and old, though I was only in my late twenties.

As Dr. Schwengel adjusted my back and spine with the osteopathic manipulative method, I consciously told myself, don’t ask “why me?” Such a question appeared narcissistic and theologically misguided. The next, tightly holy response would be “why not me?” Yet as the doctor moved my neck one way and then the other and the pain throbbed at the base of my cervical spine, this question rang false as well. The real, most central question seemed to be “what is going to happen to me?” Questions which then followed in rapid succession included: “Would I be in this vortex of pain and debility forever? What kind of illness do I have; is it multiple sclerosis or something else? What do I need in order to endure through this new reality? What spiritual resources can I call upon? Why won’t the two little creeks flowing down my cheeks stop flowing? Will I survive this? What about my family—and of my work at the church?” I don’t want to become a burden to anyone . . . “Oh God, help me,” I prayed. “God give me the strength that I need for whatever is before me.”

After the treatment Dr. Schwengel helped me to sit up on the table, and for the first time in weeks the pain in my spine felt diminished. I offered gratitude to him and realized in that moment that I could both experience healing and still endure through ongoing pain simultaneously. I was just beginning to understand that healing would come for me in small steps, would involve my whole being (mind, body, soul), and would require great dedication.

As I checked out of Dr. Schwengel’s office the nurse gave me a list of vitamins and supplements to support my beleaguered body. My eyes widened and my gut tightened as she pushed jar after jar of supplements to me. I had taken a Flintstone vitamin or two growing up, but this regimen required Herculean dedication. I wondered aloud if there were any gummy bear vitamins I could take instead and received only laughter and a curt “no.” As I placed the bag filled with nutritional jars on my hip and limped out of the door I stepped into a life in which the nurture of whatever health I could have required incredible commitment; my habitual practices of avid running and eating a largely produce-based, organic diet were no longer enough.

After numerous trips to the neurologist with blood draws, lumbar puncture, and examinations, my condition nonetheless didn’t fit into a diagnosis and thus I had no treatment protocol to follow even as my symptoms remained. While still popping incredible numbers of supplements and with a strong determination to learn from whomever I could I began a long, ongoing journey to a wide variety of healers: physical therapists, integrative medical doctors, homeopaths, naturopaths, ophthalmologists, traditional Chinese medical doctor, acupuncturists, massage therapists, yoga teachers, feldenkrais practitioner, Rolfer, sports medicine doctor, hyperbaric chamber operator, holistic dentist, and a second neurologist. I learned to regard the search for a gifted healer as a prayer practice and to offer gratitude for what I garnered from each practitioner. The therapies or protocols that the healers gave me had to be practiced as a spiritual discipline; otherwise I wouldn’t have the willpower to adhere to all the requirements. Whether the task was taking vitamins or giving myself an injection or performing some physical exercises, I had to cultivate them as habits which sustained my body so that I had the strength to continue pastoring my church and caring for others. Though I didn’t receive physical healing from those habits the practice of them enabled me to persevere through pain, to maintain the health I did have, to have greater empathy for those living with serious illness, and to cultivate hope. The practice of habits that cultivated health enabled me to fully live in and through my chronic...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Part One: Thomas Aquinas and Habits of Health
• Part Two: Habits of Health in Christian Community
• Appendix: Interview Questions
• Bibliography