Christian Psychologist and Author, Drew Sappington Speaks of the Benefits of Faith in His Blog: Athiests and Christian
Religion Associated With Happiness/Health?
Highlights The research in this area is complex—but if somebody wakes you up in the middle of the night and demands you summarize it, tell them that religious involvement is associated with greater happiness, better mental health, and even with superior physical health. The people who are religiously active aren't the ones living drab, joyless lives.
Religious involvement is associated with feelings of well-being, positive moods, and greater satisfaction with sex, marriage, work, life in general. Interestingly, serving something one believes is bigger than oneself is more strongly related to life satisfaction than is the pursuit of pleasure—perhaps something to think about for those who advocate hedonism.
Religious involvement is also associated with mental health. It goes along with lower rates of depression, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, delinquency among teenagers, recidivism in adult criminals, and divorce rates. Schizophrenics tend to have lower levels of religious commitment than the general population Psychological functioning improves and psychiatric symptoms are reduced following religious involvement such as participation in worship. Those who have suffered abuse in childhood have fewer psychological problems as adults when they are religiously active. The benefits associated with religion aren't just psychological in nature; good physical health also seems to be associated with religious involvement. Those who are active religiously are less likely to develop disease (they tend to have lower blood pressure, fewer strokes and heart attacks) recover faster, and live longer. Spirituality is one of the "coping skills" most strongly associated with handling stress well. This is not some new development. In Roman times, before Constantine made Christianity legal, Christians lived longer on the average than non-Christians.
There's more. Forgiveness, helping others, and a sense that life has meaning or purpose are not necessarily limited to religious people alone. Nevertheless, Christianity stresses all three, and it might be helpful to ask how they relate to health. Briefly, all three tend to be associated with good mental and physical functioning.
If Richard Dawkins and other militant atheists are sincerely worried that Christianity is harming people, they can breathe a sigh of relief.
Partial list of references Brooks, Arthur (2008). Gross National Happiness, New York: Basic Books Filsinger, E. E. & Wilson, M. R. (1984) Religiosity, socioeconomic rewards, and family development: Predictors of marital adjustment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46, 663-670. John Gartner (1996). Religious Commitment, Mental Health, and Prosocial Behavior: A review of the empirical literature. In Shafranske, E. P. (ed.) (1996). Religion and the clinical practice of psychology, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC., 187-214. Ryckman, R. M. (2004). Theories of Personality, 8th ed. United States: Wadsworth, pp 633-637. Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, Tayab, & Parks, Acacia C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy, American Psychologist, 13, 774-788. Spilka, B., Hood, R. W., Hunsberger, B., &Gorsuch, R. (2003). The psychology of religion, an empirical approach, pp169-206. New York: Guilford. Young, Michael; Denny, George; Young, Tamara; & Luquis, Raffy (2000). Sexual satisfaction among married women. American Journal of Health Studies.
Solo circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada by sea kayak
Imagine over a month of long, tiring days in nothing but your sea kayak and what essentials you can fit in it. This summer, Mark Towery will experience this in his attempt to solo circumnavigate Vancouver Island, B.C. to raise money for charity. Mark is an avid kayaker and has decided to put his love of the sport together with helping children worldwide, thus Kayaking for Christ was founded.
On July 6, 2009 Mark's counterclockwise trip will start from Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands. He will be traveling in his 17 foot sea kayak with no assistance. The trip will be approximately 800 - 1,000 miles. A four to six week time frame will be needed due to the possibility of uncooperative weather. This trip has been organized in an effort to raise money for the Kondanani Children’s Village in Blantyre, Malawi. Kayaking for Christ is partnering with Cross International to provide the Kondanani Children’s Village with funds for infant formula, food, housing, medical, education and the love of Jesus Christ. The children are brought in as infants and stay until their education is complete.
In an area where Aids is wiping out the adult population these babies are often left to starve to death. Kondanani Children’s Village rescues these infants and provides them with the tender loving care they need to grow strong. Most of the world does not know life with the privileges that we have here in America. Some Americans may have mixed feelings about giving money that goes to help outside of this country but in God's eyes is any one child, no matter where they were born or currently live, more important than another?
This summer Mark Towery is completing this challenging and adventurous trip to help these orphans of the Kondanani Children’s Village. Please help us spread the word about his trip to ensure that these babies grow into healthy adults! Visit our website at www.kayakingforchrist.com for further details.
Kayaking for Christ's main goal is to organize challenging kayaking trips in an effort to raise funds for children in need all over the world, including the United States. A charity will be chosen for each trip planned. We have chosen Cross International, Inc. as our charity for Mark's solo circumnavigation of Vancouver Island this summer. Charity organizations such as Cross International provide food, clothing, education, medicine and teach the gifts and blessings of Jesus. These charities go to countries where Christians are not only persecuted but children never even get a chance to read the Bible and choose for themselves. As Americans we sometimes take for granted things like reading the Bible, going to church, or just simply getting basic supplies to live healthy lives. We hope you will support us, as we work with these selected organizations to help children in need.
3rd 3,300 mile walk across America for CHRIST to begin April 1, 2009!
Join us in sharing the knowledge of JESUS as we walk the United States!
It's kind of like eating potato chips...you can't stop with just one!
In 2001, we did our first 3,300 mile walk across America for CHRIST. It started in St Augustine, FL and ended at the Crystal Cathedral
in Garden Grove, CA. After the 10 commandments were taken off the
courthouse steps in Alabama, we felt we needed to distribute copies of
those same commandments across our homeland. So in 2005, we began our
second 3,300 mile trod for God. It began in Philadelphia, PA and ended
in Albuquerque, NM. Four more years have passed and God has directed
and redirected our path.
We have moved from Orange, CA to Kansas City, MO and spent hours in the International House of Prayerseeking
God's direction for our life. Our gifts are simple ones. We walk and
talk for CHRIST. God has spoken to us as he did to Gideon. He told us
to go in the strength we have. Use what is in our hand. On April 1,
2009, we will begin to walk the United States again.
Some
have asked the significance of 3,300 miles. It's our dedication to
Father God; it's 100 miles for every year His Son walked the earth .
All our walks start on April 1st because Scripture tells us not to be
afraid of being a fool for CHRIST. We begin on April Fool's day to
remove all doubt....we're crazy.... about CHRIST!
Our
exact route is tentative but next year's walk will begin in Kansas City
and head north through Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin across the upper
peninsula and down through the state of Michigan. We'll cut across
northeastern Ohio, down through West Virginia, Virginia, North and
South Carolina and into Georgia. Plans are also being made to include a
walk through the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky before we head back to
KC.
Keep us in prayer. Speak good health into our bodies. clarity into our mind and strength into our spirit.
