Renata Łukiewicz-Kostro
Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
The HEALING of the HEART metaphor
The 21st human being is living in the times of rapid changes that make him/her lose their footing. The trust for public institutions established for the development and protection of man, such as for example, health care has been fading away. Our times can boast of the development of super-technologies, but health is still constantly slipping from our hands. According to WHO, in the year 2020 depression (not Covid-19) is going to be disease number 1 in the USA , and number 2 globally . The number of suicides, mental disorders and lack of well-being, and other social problems (lack of adaptation, aggression, violence, be it physical or verbal) have been rising despite the fact we are more and more affluent in the materialistic terms. Most of the reasons of the worsening of our health are sought outside (climate, poverty, injustice, economy, etc.). Sciences are developing enormously and rapidly at the highest cost of tax-payers, yet no satisfactory solutions seem to be found. People of the modern era may be overwhelmed with KNOWLEDGE and external expertise, yet lack WISDOM. The Western Sciences, in different fields, more and more often turn to the traditional wisdom of wisemen and wise women known across all the ages, cultures, religions, or outside religions. Healthy life requires from the NEW MAN some specific self-awareness , or self-conscience and resulting skills that have been naturally mastered by only some individuals. It is therefore worthwhile asking the following questions: Where does the multi-dimensional potential of a human being rest? What knowledge fosters the development of a healthy PERSON? How can medical and social care institutions open to a more adequate integrated approach including also the SPIRITUAL aspect ? How can we look upon a man in an INNOVATIVE way, closer to the TRUTH about human beings, so that ‘sliced” individual can be replaced by an integrated PERSON of body-mind -soul and…the Spirit? How can we promote the integrated TEAM RESEARCH from our local institutions that have GLOBAL effect in order to discover and bring into light of WHO we really are as human beings and what is our TRUE identity?
A human being – a man and a woman on various life stages is a multi-dimensional creature. So far, he/she has been studied by various scientific disciplines, yet separately, which caused only segmented, fragmentary knowledge of WHO WE are . Therefore, in order to understand PERSON and seek adequate solutions for various diseases and new therapies, we need to construct a completely NEW PARADIGM for ANTTHROPOLOGY with INNOVATIVE solutions in Health , Well-being and Social Care, including the latest research , not only in “hardcore” medical sciences (biology, physics, chemistry) , but also in theology , philosophy and social sciences plus HUMANITIES! It can only happen if all the sciences come together and use their responsible latest research tools for bringing more light upon WHO WE ARE.
The linguistic studies of other literary texts can also can reveal the deeply hidden SPIRITUAL causes of mental problems and disorders of the victims of depression killing millions of people, destroying marriages, families, communities, affecting workplaces and global economies, as well! For this reason we need to bring in responsible researchers from various fields that can be networking globally with this far-reaching goal.
I my personal part of the project I wish to bring in a niche area for the studies , namely linguistic analysis of selected scenes taken from the Bible , treated as a Holy Book, a literary text and a cultural phenomenon, the Book of Books on which the whole European culture has been based ! I am offering a responsible , yet very innovative and my own authorian scientific analysis of case-studies of selected PERSONAL DIVINE-HUMAN ENCOUNTERS when Jesus met sick people while He was on Earth and healed them, very often pointing to the SPIRITUAL causes of illnesses, either instantly (a miracle), or, more frequently, in a process of their human transformation leading to their integrated healing. Healing of this kind (spiritual with visible physical and mental consequences still happens nowadays in some religious communities) can be discovered and studied by applying the latest scientific cross-disciplinary research tools in linguistics, literature and biblical studies. I want to look HOW people were healed and with what results for themselves as individuals and with relation to communities, yet always via their PERSONAL relation to God (the SPIRIT).
In my contribution to the Summer School 2020 I wish to present a linguistic analysis of a few case-studies of the women healed by Jesus , looking at the HEALING of the HEART metaphor, hoping to bring in INNOVATIVE ideas for INNOVATIVE solutions for HEALTH and Well-being of contemporary citizens of the world.
Key-words: Healing of the Heart metaphor, spiritual/inner healing, integral humanism, health and well-being