Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.
H = Homeostasis
I am a nurse.
I love the inner workings of the human body. I reflect on the pumping of the heart, the synapses between brain cells, and that we make 300 billion new cells every day and I am amazed at this miracle. Thank You Creator God!
This week’s letter is H. Lately I have been praying and pondering balance and a great H word – homeostasis.
Homeostasis comes from the Greek word, meaning same or stable. The human body is constantly managing complex interactions to keep our body on an even keel. It has to or we would die.
Homeostasis works to control our blood sugar and the amount of oxygen in our lungs and in each cells. We are 70 percent water – and the body needs to keep that balance under control. Not just water, but all the electrolytes within water. Is the temperature of our body ok? Our blood pressure? Are we getting enough sleep or to eat? We sweat to cool off or shiver to get warm.
Our bodies constantly strive to balance and regulate its environment in order to stay alive.
But our bodies are never at perfect balance all the time, but always moving a little one direction, then the other. Homeostasis dances with flow and movement responding to whatever happens inside or outside the body.
So is spiritual homeostasis the same? Can we view our spiritual life like a scale? Tipping one way for a while, then with God’s help and others’ guidance, trying to tilt back the other way. Always striving for that perfect balance.
Reflecting on homeostasis helps me be gentler with myself when I forget to pray or run off without doing my morning devotions. I don’t mean just allowing excuses all the time, but not dwelling on my errors. I turn and reach out once again for God, knowing He will bring His steadiness to my vacillation.
Thinking of my spiritual life in the terms of homeostasis helps me realize the movement of balance. The constant dance of coming and going. The flow of life. A spiritual homeostasis.
We don’t ever find that perfect balance, at least not while on earth. But our lives flow in the ebb and tide of the rhythm of each day, each moment. We live in healthy tension.
Life buffets us around in chaotic storms. Our own self-doubts and mistakes toss us about. I used to think something was wrong with me since I never got rid of that tension. Now I just hold life’s highs and lows lightly and keep my eyes on God for direction.
God is the central pillar of our scales. He is the sacred Steady to our weary wobbling. He balances us in his hands so we don’t completely tip over. He keeps us even-keeled.
Even-keel is a nautical term meaning the ship is floating upright without listing to one side or the other. A keel is the center structural line running before and throughout the vessel, stabilizing its journey. A keel gives the ship its strength and function.
I kneel before the Keel.
I am grateful that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
What does spiritual homeostasis mean to you?