Happy All Saints Day!

This is a beautiful day to start new! It is Sunday. It is the first of the month. It is the first day of standard time. It is All Saints Day!

I was baptized, confirmed, attended Sunday School and Youth Group, and was married in All Saints Church, so today has special meaning for me! The celebration of All Saints Day began in the fourth century. Believers gathered at the graves of Christians who had been martyred for their faith, to honour and reflect on their sacrifice.

The word saint comes from the Greek verb hagiazo [aJgiavzw], meaning to set apart, sanctify, or make holy. [1] In the Old Testament, this concept applies to God and those who serve Him, extended in the New Testament to all Believers, who are, in fact, referred to as “Saints.”

Pondering this has me reflecting thankfully back on the Believers who helped to shape my faith and my life. My Grandmothers factor strongly here, along with my parents who made attending Church a normal reality for our family, just like going to school and eating meals. Sunday School teachers, Curates, (Brian and John), Youth Group Leaders (Bob and Betty!), Bible Study teachers, Christian writers, friends, Pastors (Ross, Phil, and Scott), friends, and my husband, who introduced me to a personal faith of the heart, continued to inspire my journey of faith. They are all Saints in the truest sense of the word.

Aha, but according to the Bible, so am I! Because of God’s grace and with His help, I am on a journey of sanctification. Because of my humanity, I constantly sabotage that journey. So I am making today, a Sunday, the first day of the month, the day we fall back to standard time, and also All Saints Day, a special new start for me, opening myself to the possibility of loving God with body, mind, soul, and spirit, and allowing Him to change all those synergistic parts of me.

Body

Two days ago Ryan and I had a refreshing and revitalizing visit to a beautiful Wellness Center in Phoenix, AZ. We came away with a laser machine that did wonders for the arthritis in my hand, and

customized homoeopathic bioenergetic remedies to restore balance to our cells. While we are on this treatment, we are replacing coffee with green tea. If you know us, you understand the challenge!

Highly successful business owner and litigator, John Terhune, advises that setting health goals concurrent with business goals enhances both. The discipline harnessed in one area can’t help but spill over to the other. I have seen some of the 55 pounds I lost several years ago creep slowly back, so I am officially launching a body-fat reduction crusade in conjunction with our health and wellness business, combining the Qivana Metaboliq tools with the organic, low carb lifestyle that helped me achieve success in the past. Ryan is joining me in this, naturally, because two hearts are better than one (and because we cook, work, and live together, and everything we do affects each other).

Mind

As Ryan and I speak and write about shifting our thought process, the subject of Ryan’s next book, I am challenging myself to do just that. I am also challenging myself to protect my brain, with the food I eat (less sugar, fewer grains, more organic vegetables and meat, more fermented foods), the supplements I take (probiotics, nitric oxide activator, immune and cardiovascular supporting herbs, detoxification herbs, and melatonin and sleep-supporting herbs) and increasing the exercise I engage in. I also want to increase my brain capacity, by learning every day through reading (including God’s Word), listening to audio books, staying tuned into world events, and engaging in stimulating discussion.

Soul

I am forever trying to understand the difference between soul and spirit. Please weigh in on this if you can enlighten me! The Hebrew word translated "soul" (nephesh) means a breathing creature. The Greek word for soul in the New Testament is psuche, from which the word psyche comes.

My understanding is the word soul refers to a whole living person.[2] It is interesting that All Saints Day has also been interchangeably called All Souls Day. We are integrated beings with thoughts, emotions, chemistry, and energy, all intertwined. What we do in one area affects all of the others. I have a strong desire to achieve greater balance between them.

Spirit

The Hebrew word for Spirit, ruach, means breath. Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Our breath is our life. Our Spirit connects us to God. Perhaps most important of all, I want to grow in my relationship with God, in my study of His Word, in talking with him often in Prayer, in meditating on His greatness, and simply being still and knowing that He is God.

Remembering that God has made me His Saint with His Spirit, that He is leading me on a journey of making me more like Him, and that I undertake this journey, not alone, but with all of the Saints who have gone before me, and are journeying after me, brings joy. This is indeed a day to remember and be thankful for all Saints.

Happy All Saints Day!