Why “Where the Physical Meets the Spiritual?”

One question a new author must answer is what makes their books different than the other authors that they claim to be similar to. As I thought about how I would answer this, I reflected on the book ideas I have. They all have to do with some sort of physical issue and how the character’s experience with this affliction intertwines with faith.

Jesus concerned Himself with the physical ailments of the people He interacted with. The miracles he performed were incredible! Consider the lady with the issue of blood. He healed her and told her it was her faith that made her well. What about the deaf and mute man in Mark 7? He put His fingers in the man’s ears and spat and touched his tongue and commanded them to be opened, and they were. There was a lady in Luke 18 who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. She could not even stand up straight! Jesus laid His hands on her, and she was made straight and glorified God.

I could go on and on with examples from the bible. I am sure you can think of some of your own. Jesus cares about our bodies. He is known as the Great Physician.

As much as Jesus cared about healing the sick, He cared about their salvation even more. When He healed the paralytic, brought down from the roof, He first said, “Your sins are forgiven.” That was the priority. Mark 2:17 says, “When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” He healed bodies, both physical and spiritual.

In my books, I plan to deal with physical issues such as body-image, alcoholism, loss of limb, cancer, autoimmune disease, anxiety/depression and more. If you have a suggestion for a physical condition I could write about, I would love to hear from you! If you have a personal experience with a physical condition that affected your faith and spiritual condition, please tell me about it!

I look forward to this journey of examining how the physical meets the spiritual through fiction. I pray that through my books, you experience laughter and tears and sense a drawing closer to God, the true Healer of all our woes.