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Modern Holistic Health | an open letter to the team

Modern Holistic Health | an open letter to the team

Last updated on: February 2, 2022 at 5:26 pm by Rev. Jared V. Ingle

Modern Holistic Health | an open letter to the team 2022-02-02T17:26:44-05:00 Rev. Jared V. Ingle

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Modern Holistic Health | an open letter to the team…

Today is the day Rosita and I said farewell.

i. Rosita refuses to say a goodbye, but rather a fare-well

This may all sound like Greek to you, because I don’t speak of these things so openly, other than with Rosita, counselors, those close to me, and those within the academie and the traditional church.

From the time of seminary, I have come to the conclusion that there’s something very real about the communion of the saints, even among those who do not feel like they are fully Christian. Case in point, I am reading Dante right now as part of a collective of honors programs across America, an acquaintance being one of the initiators.

At the beginning of his journey, and at periodic times throughout, he was assisted by the ladies Beatrice, Lucia, and Rachel. For the modern reader, there is somewhat of a question as to whether or not Beatrice is even Christian, nonetheless she is a light in a very dark place, and a light at times as Dante the pilgrim progresses to higher ground.

ii. Thank you all for being lights

I am definitely not able to relate to the suffering of Jesus, but I have related to stations of the cross at times. Traditionally, Veronica attends to Jesus, as do the women of Jerusalem, and Mary as well.

JVI-Veronica-Wipe-Face-Jesus-Iglesia-San-Andres

JVI | Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus | Iglesia de San Andres | 01.31.22

This is Veronica, but we know of Mary the mother of Jesus being present as well. It is possible that Mary Magdala is part of the women of Jerusalem. I have always wondered what St. Mary Magdala assists with now in the communion of the saints, if not helping wayward people out of the snares and perversities of life. Her backstory makes me wonder.

I have told Rosita that these women have been a strength to him in his suffering, as you all have been to me. Your kindness and gentleness, as well as your technical and medical attention (for ex. like Veronica) is appreciated.

The last time I met with one of the members from the Catholic fraternity at lunch at McGee’s in Traverse City, I shared similar thoughts about the stations of the cross, including other thoughts I won’t share here.

iii. On my own, on a difficult night, with nothing but some thing I would consider to be a gentle presence from the Spirit…

I wept, and left my handkerchief at the foot of one of his stations involving the women…

as a token of the healing that had taken place for me through my reflection on scripture, in communion with others, and in ways I cannot express here.

I just want to extend to you part of my narrative, part of what I shared with Rosita today. I believe the narrative of the last year with you all attending to me has overlapped with other times in my life when I have sensed goodness and mercy (see Psalm 23; stations of the cross).

Please accept this as an act of gratitude.

I believe I will see Ann on the 21st to discuss next steps.

Ptr. Jared

iv. For the Reader | a health invitation

At times I have heard Christians express concern about going to a non-christian psychotherapist, acupuncturist, or whatever the case may be.

There is also grave concern about Catholic-Protestant relations, as if none of us will quite make it to the other side, or the other camp’s version of the other side.

Let’s deconstruct this in four ways.

First, does your doctor, pharmacist, chiropractor, mechanic, job headhunter, teacher, etc. have to be a Christian?

Did you go to Christian school or public school? What about your parents or your children? Did anyone mentor you in school, public sports, cheerleading, etc.? When I was serving as a young pastor on staff, Ptr. Ron Dean once said about counseling, “You just get to the point in education when you have to trust that the Lord is guiding you. If He is guiding you on this journey, he is guiding your teachers as well.”

Second, would you rather have a mediocre Christian mental health generalist or a specialist?

If you have a rare heart condition, you’d rather have the best specialist in the world (Christian or not) than your general practitioner who is a Christian.

Rosita, who I mention above, is a psychotherapist and an acupuncturist.

I have a comprehensive master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and professional counseling. It’s 60 hours. Most mental health master’s degrees are under 50 hours. I could be a MFT or an LPC, or both, in about any state in America.

At this point, I offer online relational counseling with The State of Michigan. However, I cannot advertise as being qualified to offer psychodynamic or psychotherapeutic modalities. These people are trained well beyond me, often holding doctorates.

Rosita is also an acupuncturist, employing some of the same methods of treatments a chiropractor uses. I did a quick Facebook poll asking who has tried chiropractor and or acupuncture care. I was shocked…

not because of the response in favor of chiropractors, but in favor of acupuncturists. There were not only ministers and pastors on the thread, but also bishops.

Third, is it possible there is music that ministers to you, that is not on a “Christian label”?

Do you know there are many good Christians in “secular” music?

We all though it was a Sign of the Last Days when Amy Grant crossed over, but she is still doing amazing things in that arena for the Lord.

I just found out from Ptr. Mike Popenhagen that Chris Tomlin has crossed over into Country music. He said that if Chris Tomlin can walk in those circles, with the amazing music he produces, he’s going to attract followers, and win souls for the Lord. Ptr. Mike is excited about Chris’ decision, one who has made countless contributions to Christian worship.

Do you realize that in the United Kingdom, since there is no separation of church and state, the same principle applies to music? There are no “Christian” or “secular” record labels, or at least there weren’t when I was younger. I used to follow a lot of music from the U.K., knew the backstories of the bands, and sometimes knew who in the band was Christian.

In line with the overtly Catholic theme in this piece, do you know there are household names in “secular” music who are Catholic Christians?

What else are Catholics going to do, beg to sign a contract with an Evangelical Christian record label and get air-time on K-Love?

Among them are Mat Kearney, Sarah Bareilles, and Ben Rector. If you don’t recognize their names, I’m sure you’ve heard their music on stations while driving your car, playing over the system in the store, or on any type of streaming radio. They’re just that good.

However, has anyone ever come down off of the stage, under the big lights, at a concert with tens of thousands of people, and told you, “I’m here for you today”?

If you don’t know anything about the musical artists or music that is feeding your soul, then you really have no business complaining about a trained mental health specialist who is there for you, Christian or not. Their specialty is soul-care.

Fourth, in America, have you ever heard of Division 36 of the APA?

Have you ever heard of Siang-Yang Tan, the first President of Div 36? If so, what have you heard about S-Y Tan’s tenure as faculty at Fuller, or his pastorate in LA? Have you heard of his cohorts, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and Gary Moon? Together, they launched Renovare.

Have you heard of Thema-Bryant Davis from Pepperdine, another ivy-league school in LA like Fuller? Thema is the new APA President over everything.

S-Y Tan was the founding President of Div 36 in the APA, devoted to Religion.

It is not only unethical for any type of mental health professional to belittle your religion, it would cost them their license to practice in America. This has been the stated purpose of Modern Holistic Health with me all year. My religion has been integrated into the sessions, and I believe they are doing a good work.

It may sound silly, but mental health specialists are capable of working with thousands like music artists, and some of them do in certain circumstances. Modern Holistic Health does. However they have made the choice to focus their attention on you.

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