We were made by God to be spiritual beings. Therefore it would not be appropriate to abandon the immaterial person when a person is in need of healing. Counseling should include the immaterial and material person. The material person is what is more on the outside including our feelings and emotions. If we abandon the immaterial then we are missing out on healing. God can heal all of our hurts and pains without a problem. He wants to do it but if we do not allow him by asking him to take a back seat when it comes to the immaterial person then we are only postponing what he can deliver us from. Counselors should assist their clients in connecting with their immaterial person; the outcome in counseling could be greater. I am confident that it would be. Not handling the immaterial person is like putting peroxide on the cut so that it can heal but not applying a band-aide to protect it. The band-aide protects the cut and a strong immaterial person (strong relationship with God) can protect us from the sins of the world.
Explanation of the picture: I chose this picture because in my opinion it represents the immaterial side of a person which is not as complex and then the right side is the immaterial person which is more complex. I also like the colors.
It is important for counselors to be sensitive to both the material person and the immaterial. Being sensitive to both can make for a better outcome. God did not create man to be a simple meaningless creature. We are complicated and more than what the person can see with the naked eye. Just because we cannot see the hurt does not mean it is not there. Our immaterial person needs love too.
I understand where you are coming from when you stress the interconnection between the immaterial and the material person. Both aspects must be nurtured in order for a person to adequately mature into a "whole" person. While both parts are important, it is easy to spend more attention on either one or the other. In my opinion, today's society focuses the majority of their time and energy on the material person because it may seem to be more relevant because it involves the "here and now." Whereas the immaterial person persists into the afterlife.
ReplyDeleteThe photograph that you chose certainly attracts the readers attention because of its oddity and contrast within the person. This is relevant to comparing the immaterial and the material to some extent. You mentioned that the immaterial is not as complex. I do not agree with you on this statement. In class we discussed just how drastically complex the material side of life is and therefore how equally and if not more complex the immaterial side of life is. Even though one cannot visible see the immaterial, does not mean to infer its lack of complexity.
Secondly, you mentioned that the material described the outside of a person and that it included feelings and emotions. I think this sentence sounds a little conflicting because although feelings and emotions are apart of the material, they are not necessarily "outside." This sounds a little misleading.
I appreciate your post though! It is incredibly thought provoking and relevant to our class discussions.