HEAL-THY: Brothers, Keep... Your Heads Up (2 of 3)

The more I live, I learn Life is such that each of our worldly crests and troughs can be trumped by another's highs and lows at any given moment. This week alone, I had the pleasure of hearty fellowship with a few of my brothers. Though they don't know each other, we have all been joined in true friendship for at least 10 years. Some are doing very well as fathers, husbands and/or just good men of the Most High, making me pleased to share their good news where applicable. Others unfortunately endured the culmination of severe hardships that began at the heart of similar attempts, making me protective of their feelings, space and, in some cases, literal proceedings.

We may not speak often, engage in any 'mushiness', be able to exchange outfits or share beauty supplies, but all these guys have shared my love of music or natural healing, helped me move when Life dictated, illuminated occasional third-party games and the like with an unconditional closeness and dedication some have assumed could only come from the physical intimacy that doesn't define us. We're just chosen family. As such, if one hurts, learns and heals, even inexplicably, so do the others. That's how we flow.

When Egypt, a literal and figurative territory from which much of this family was brought out, exploded in civil unrest and triple-threat entertainer Chris Brown ended his program of domestic violence counseling/anger management this week as well, the bond with my brothers came to the fore of my heart. Many questions also followed. Why does peace and upright living seem so difficult once earthly power and even a little money are involved? What is it that makes a real man hit a woman or simultaneously mark multiple women to be wives/girlfriends/others based upon their perceived assets instead of genuine interests? What is it that makes a real woman provoke, harm or deceive a man who hasn't hit her in either of these ways? Is controlling the façade of love superior enough to embodying and sharing the reality thereof that one would employ voodoo or another form of duplicity and manipulation to do so? Where do self-control and healthy self-love go in these instances? Were they ever present in said vessels? Are people that unaware or disrespectful of how challenging human life is to create and foster without incident that they would threaten suicide and falsely force another into jail or the grave without second thought? Why do jealousy and anger seek to linger so long but possess such short fuses? Why... I decided to let peace remain still within me, remembering a quip I read some time ago: that all questions are best presented to the Answer.

My facet of the Most High has always been appreciative of all harmless individuality and very specific about its likes and wants. Further, the facts that they should never surmount my needs and means nor should they consciously violate another's has never allowed jealousy within me. As a fellow spiritual Being in this human experience, however, I have certainly seen anger in the external world and felt it from within before. What is often compared to and roused up like a spirit bears a seed or "germ" that elicits defense from regulatory systems while willing and able to multiply, often to the detriment of its host. Remember the Rage Virus from 28 Days Later? Let's prevent the spread together.

Sometimes there are people (or germ agents, for this purpose) that we allow into our lives who seek only to destroy us because they feel slighted somehow or because it's their intrinsic nature. Try as aware friends and family (or T-cells, so to speak) might to warn and protect us from impending danger, we fight them like/with a cold, almost as if we believe there is no sickness at the heart of the matter to be addressed. Any perversions of Biblical tent-peg justice notwithstanding, the following excerpt is from a 2006 independent research piece entitled “Germ Theory or Jinn: Religion as a Potential Barrier to Health and Wellness”. Religion often being presented as something merely church-bound, other than following and serving Christ in truth and spirit, I began exploring clinical connections between faith, wellness and how/where the combination sometimes falters.

Of the world’s approximately 6 billion residents, 87% reports itself as religious, with some 54% subscribing to the big three of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Barring the esoteric sects found in these major religions, the remaining 33% belong to a hodge-podge of agnosticism, atheism and largely, nature-based religions. The latter, often polytheistic option is of great importance [to consider] as many world citizens who associate themselves with the above-mentioned third often spill over into the spiritual mandates of their cultures. For instance, Haiti is rife with Vodoun Catholics. Many Protestant Native Americans are [firm] believers in animism and so on. Even closer to the American home are Christian Scientists who, while falling within the lines of Christianity by nomenclature, limit their overall access to health care by rejecting conventional medicines and generally accepting help only from practitioners specific to their faith. Last month, CNN World Report's Dr. Sanjay Gupta even highlighted [a] resurgence in the practice of trepanation, the radical ancient method of boring a hole in the skull to [relieve pressure and] treat head injuries, which are sometimes cited as having sources of negative spiritual influence.

With poverty and natural environments posing large enough problems, the possibility of nearly one-third of the population's health needs not being met, voluntarily even, is absurd. The cry must go out for adequate training in and delivery of culturally and spiritually sensitive health care; a return to the merger of spirit and science, if you will. In this time of ever bigger businesses, rampant war, natural disaster and outer space escapism from our terrestrial abuse, we are reminded that unity is required for success on all fronts. The battle to maintain our overall health, our inner space, is no exception.

Also of no exception is the specific wellbeing and healthy function of our men, who can pioneer a multitude of harmlessly positive activity on and beyond Earth if so assisted. Our inner space is indeed precious (or hilarious as an '80s film) and worth guarding more than any expensive satellite station. A man's heart is often overlooked in the name of it being 'tough enough' to withstand anything. Pain is pain, evil is evil and unfairness is unfair, however, regardless of the strong vessel made to bear them. Chasing the next skirt in an effort to heal the hurt is not advised. As I reminded the brothers suffering from the wrong matches, in the words of the artist formerly known as Prince, "you need another lover like you need a hole in your head" -- which is not at all.

Rebuilding via the patient pursuit of true self-knowledge and Divine Love within will benefit both groups of guys; you and I too. With a holistic view of humanity reiterating that the rightful meld of men and women is required to continue "us", the heart and soul of a man should be tended to tenderly as any other. According to the Will of God, you are not alone, brothers.