by Stuart Patterson

I spend a fair amount of time around people who are trying to get well.

Some are in recovery from addiction. Some are living with long-term health conditions. Some are carrying grief, anxiety, depression, loneliness, or the accumulated weight of life's disappointments. Others would look perfectly healthy on paper but privately feel exhausted, disconnected, or lost.

The longer I spend with people, the more I wonder whether we have become very good at treating symptoms while becoming less certain about what it means to be well.

That is not a criticism of medicine. Modern healthcare has transformed lives and continues to do so every day. Many of us owe our wellbeing, and sometimes our lives, to the skill, dedication, and compassion of healthcare professionals. Yet even those working within healthcare would probably acknowledge that health is about more than blood results, scans, prescriptions, and procedures.

Rev Stuart Patterson is Partnership Coordinator at Street Connect, a pastor, speaker, and author based in the west of Scotland. Having experienced addiction and recovery firsthand, he now works alongside individuals, families, churches, and communities seeking hope, healing, and restoration. His latest booklet is Out of Hiding – Christ and the Journey Back to Communion.

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Image: 'The healing of a bleeding woman, Rome, Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter -  Wikimedia Commons Licence