Spiritual health is tied to joy, love and good will

Years ago, I wrote a column about a man I knew only slightly at that time. I was quite taken with him. I liked his friendly, outreaching style and his amazingly infectious laugh. He would tell a joke, then chuckle uproariously at his own material. He preferred hugs to handshakes, long conversations to short ones and counted any week a good one if it included encounters with children.

This man, Bob Larson, was the pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church. Still is, actually. But only for a few more days. After 39 years in the pulpit, "Pastor Bob" is retiring.

No more trotting up the aisle on Sunday mornings to tell humorous anecdotes about aging. No longer will his strong melodic voice lead the congregation in song. If we hear his laugh, the "heh, heh, hehhh" that initially lights up his face and then soon completely envelops him, we will not hear it on a Sunday morning.

I have said this before. Others have too. Ascension Lutheran Church services are like a gift. There is laughter, music and abounding goodwill. In the same way a good health provider identifies the right combination of medication and treatment for a particular illness, Larson has, over the years, mixed his own concoction of humorous stories, sacred song and personal warmth to address the spiritual health of his parishioners.

I have been thinking a lot about spiritual health lately. A little book called, "For the Love of God, Handbook for the Spirit," suggests spiritual health is woven from three ideas that overlap. "The first is that there’s an infinite, invisible world beyond the world we experience. The second is that this infinite world is part of every human personality. And the third is that the purpose of life is to discover that world."

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I’m concluding that a spiritually healthy person is someone who is always joyously searching for ways to better understand the world around them. It is someone who is constantly looking upward or forward, probably in both directions, and at the same time is exuding a sense of contentment and belonging.

I don’t think spiritual health is tied to membership in a church like Ascension, or linked to a charismatic person like Bob Larson. I don’t even think it has to be a "process of God." Thoreau had it figured out when he said, "Your religion is where your love is."

Where is your love? Think about that question. Bob Larson has always thrown people off balance by telling them. "I love you." You might expect a pastor to say, "God loves you," but this guy personalizes it. He knows that love and laughter and good will are powerful spiritual healers. He knows that people want to be lovable, and when they hear that they are — they are.

This leave-taking pastor is about to take his loving manner into a different venue and he will be sorely missed, but there are others who know how to lead the way. There are many of these other people. May you be one.

Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at s.johnson@orst.edu.