I firmly believe that there are three main aspects to human life, and each of these aspects needs to be cared for and nurtured. And together when they are cared for, human beings live healthy and happy lives. These three aspects are:

1) The Physical

2) The Mental

3) The Spiritual

Now there are two ways that these aspects may be treated in life. We can choose to treat them acutely, as in when something goes wrong, or we can treat them in a preventive manner.

Case in point is the physical. Preventive care would encompass things like exercise, going to the gym and eating a healthy and balanced diet. By doing so our bodies develop stronger immune systems capable of fighting of various sicknesses and helps to prevent diseases, like heart disease and strokes.

Now many chose instead to treat their physical selves acutely. They have a bad diet, little to no exercise rendering them winded from climbing stairs and a sedentary lifestyle. When they become ill, they go to the doctor and receive medication. Or poor diet can develop diabetes in the individual, at which time medication is required. Just a couple of examples of acute care.

A healthy active lifestyle prolongs life and quality of life. Simply put caring for ones physical self is important. We feel better when healthy, happier and have a better quality of life, both now and in the long run.

The same is true for the mental. There are many aspects to the mental. There is mental illness, but there is also exercise of the mind. I will treat each of these separately, for they are truly distinct, even though one may dovetail into the other.

Accumulation of stress and not having a release for that stress can often cause depression or a tendency to lash out at people and see in them projections of stress not yet dealt with. We can read into situations things that do not exist, or even see innocent comments as personal attacks.

Having the means for coping with high level of stress and decompressing after high levels of stress is a must for a healthy and happy mental life. The high levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder being reported by returning soldiers from active theater is an indication that proper and timely decompression from stressful events is not taking place.

Yet caring for our mental wellness is not just a matter of treating mental illness. It is preventive also. Like the physical we can either treat the symptoms acutely when they arise or we can engage in a regiment of preventive care. Here education is key.

Stretching past ones assumptions and beliefs and having those beliefs and assumptions challenged so that we can see our prejudices is key to helping us have a happy healthy life. This allows us to come beside our neighbor and to understand their perspective.

It should be noted that understanding does not mean agree, simply put, it means if we can see another’s point of view, we have opened our mind to new possibilities of understanding and friendship.

Caring for our mental well being, exercising our minds and allowing sufficient downtime after stressful encounters is key to a happy and healthy life.

Finally the one aspect of our lives that in our western post modernist secular world that is often over looked is the spiritual.

I often run into people during the course of my duties as a priest who tell me they are not religious, but spiritual. When I press them on this, in what do they do to exercise their spirituality I am often met by blank stares and stumbling answers like, “I try to be a good person”.

By not caring for our spiritual selves, we open up ourselves to the need to have this aspect of our lives treated acutely when crisis happens. And if there is one guarantee in life, we will encounter crises. A regular regiment of spiritual development needs to be engaged if we are to care for this third aspect of our lives.

Which is of course is one of the many reasons I believe in the value of church. Church may seem antiquated and out of touch with today’s world, but I firmly believe church will give you the exercise your spiritual selves needs to be strong and healthy. It provides preventive care in the same manner as preventive care surrounding our physical and mental lives, which helps us to be happy and healthy.

It is hard in the moment to see how hitting the treadmill or de-briefing an incredibly stressful event will help you years down the road. And it is equally hard to see how attending church will help you years down the road as we confront our own mortality, aging process and growing through our many encounters and crisis in life.

But exercising our spiritual lives is key. It is the third leg of the stool upon which sits a healthy and happy life. And when lacking a regiment of exercise for our spiritual lives church in many senses becomes for us our gym.

So grab a Bible, a Torah, a Koran or other sacred text. Join a church and let the spiritual sweating and exercise begin.